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About Win Htein @ Htet Aung Kyaw
Win Htein @ Htet Aung Kyaw was born in

1964, in Tavoy, southern Burma. He was an
art student in Moulmein University while
the government announced demonetization
of banknotes in September 1987, Po Maw
case in March, and Red bridge case in June
1988. He was a local student leader in Tavoy
while 8888 uprising and 18-September coup
by army.
He leaves Tavoy in the night of 19-September with dozens of
other students after the army shot death demonstrators. They
went to Karen Rebel controlled area where they found ABSDF (All
Burma Student Democratic Front) or Student Army. He serviced
as a commanding officer of 201 battalion of Student Army, a chairman of
Minthamee Camp, a Reserve CC member of ABSDF during 12-years of his life in jung
le.
Win Htein was became to Htet Aung Kyaw in 1995 when he works as
a field reporter for Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma Radio.
After series of first hand reports of Embassy drama, Ratchaburi
hostages and God Army surrendering, he was choice to go Oslo in 2001.
In other hand, he also wrote some articles in English in the Irrawaddy,
the Nation and Bangkok Post during his difficult days in Thailand.
He attended Radio journalism course in Thailand by IMMF (The Indochina Media Mem
orial Foundation) in 1998 and Broadcast Journalism course in Cardiff University
in UK
by the Thomson Foundation in 2002.
He is a senior journalist for DVB and he still writes some articles for
the Nation and others. He is now living in Oslo, Norway.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Ko Aung Zaw of the Irrawaddy who urges me
to write some articles in English in 1998. Secondly, I should thank
late Ralph Bachoe of Bangkok Post and Kavi Chongkittavon of the
Nation who edit and used my articles. Third, I should thank Siân
Thomas and Pascal Khoothwe of DVB who editing some articles for
this book. Fourth, I would like to thank all comrades of the ABSDF
and DVB who give me the chance to write this book.
Content
Part One:
Law of the jungle: Life on the Thai-Burma
border
1- Casualties of hunger ........................................................

...........1
2- Kawmura: My first battlefield experience .................................?
3- At gunpoint on the Thai-Burma border.....................................?
4- Role of the educated in the revolution.......................................
?
Part Two:
9999 : Active days of student warriors
1- An alert for the coming 9999 uprising?....................................?

2- Learning in limbo: Educating a neglected generation ..............?
3- Fuel to the fire ............................................................
................?
4- The end of tolerance.........................................................
..........?
5- Burmese army trapped by its turbulent history .......................?
6- From two-way talks to three-way?.............................................
?
Part Three:
Cry Freedom: From bombsite to website
1- Cry Freedom on the air ........................................................

.....?
2- Muzzled media pursue goal ...................................................
....?
3- Meeting with old foes .......................................................
..........?
4- At gunpoint back on the border: Meeting God s Army .............?
5- Burmese exiles fight over press freedom ...................................?
6- The worst of the worst: Press freedoms in Burma ....................?
Part Four:
Road map: Heading to the Saffron Revolution
1- Problems in Burma need people power .....................................?

2- Road map to division ........................................................
.........?
3- China s role in Burma s National Convention ...........................?
4- What s changed in Burma in the past 19 years? ........................?
5- How to bring an end to Burma s civil unrest.............................?
6- What s the difference between the 1988 uprising and now? ....?
Part Five:
Far from home: 20 years in exile
1- Mixed signals from Burma over disaster ...................................?

2- Who will bell the cat in Burma?..............................................
...?
3- Can Thailand face up to its responsibility?................................?
4- Is Burma ready for a new election? ..........................................
.?
5- Twenty years on, Burma s opposition lacks unity .....................?
6- What s changed in Burma in the past 20 years? .......................?
7- Far from home: 20 years in exile ............................................
...?
part one | Law of the jungLe: Life on the thai-Burma Border
Part One:
Law of the jungle: Life on the
thai-Burma border
htet aung Kyaw
Casualties of hunger
It was an afternoon in the rainy season in early October 1988, our
first full moon day since we had been in the jungle. About 50 of us
students were making our way from our camp where we being given
basic military training by Karen National Union (KNU) soldiers to
another village with a Buddhist monastery where we could celebrate
our traditional religious festival.
Tha-tin-kyunt, the full moon day that marks the end of lent, is an
important religious festival for Buddhists, but celebrating religion
was not our priority in those days after four weeks of hunger we
were more concerned about being able to eat a good meal. Every
weekend, on Saturday, we would go to the villages near our camp to
play football in return for dinner. On Sunday morning, we would visit
churches even though we were all Buddhist, looking for the chance
to eat better food. As we were students from the cities, we were not
accustomed to eating low-quality rice with no meat but only naungu-
hti, or fish-paste, when we arrived at our new camp.
The paths in rural areas, especially in the KNU-controlled Ka-thongni
village tracts, were totally different from the roads we had walked
along as university students. The narrow, muddy paths passed
through many streams with no bridges. We soon came to a tributary
of the Tenasserim river with a very strong current, perhaps flowing
from the mountains.
While we stopped to discuss whether we should go ahead or return
to the camp, a villager from Kyak Htoo village who had acted as our
guide waded out into the river and called to us, Don t worry guys.
The water level is just up to the neck. This is an easy swim for a rebel
commando. Please just follow me.
Before the duty commander had given the green light, many students
had already begun following the villager. So we shouted, Be careful.
Take off your shoes. Hold each other s hands. But our warning was
too late. Nyi Nyi Naing, a 22-year-old mathematics student in his
second year at Tavoy College, had been swept away by the strong
current. Deep in the jungle there were no rescuers, divers, boats or
helicopters so we did the best we could. Unfortunately the current
had carried him into deep water where there were many fallen
branches. We searched for him late into the afternoon but eventually
had to give up.
We continued on to the monastery to play football for our dinner.
But even the pork curry fed to us by the villagers could not lift our
spirits as we all talked about Nyi Nyi Naing. I can still see his face,
a Chinese Tavoyan, talkative and friendly. His parents, who sell
Aung-Ba-Lay lottery tickets near the Tavoy cinema, are among the
10 richest people in Tavoy.
The full moon day ceremony was changed into a prayer service
for Nyi Nyi Naing. But unfortunately, there was no monk at the
monastery. There were two reasons for this: firstly, no monk wanted
to stay for long in the grey area between the Burmese troops and
the KNU as they could easily be accused of being a spy by either
side, and secondly, it is not easy for a Buddhist monk to live in the
Christian-dominated KNU-controlled area. Luckily, there was a man
in our group who had served as a monk in Tavoy for a long time and
so we asked him to lead the service.
Two days later, we found Nyi Nyi Naing s body some hundreds
metres down the lower side of river. We tried to inform his parents
in Tavoy of his death but they could not come to the black rebel-
controlled area where we were living at the time. We urged the
Karen villagers to give him a proper burial as were not able to hold
a Buddhist ceremony for him with no monk there.
Ka-thong-ni tract is located alongside the Bang Chaung, a tributary
of the Tenasserim, four days walk from Tavoy and two days from
Minthamee camp near the Thai border. We stayed there for over five
weeks before we went on to Minthamee camp. Nyi Nyi Naing was
the first All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) casualty
I saw with my own eyes. I have never forgotten him as a man who
died for want of food in the jungle.
**********
htet aung Kyaw
It was a summer day in 1992, just after the ABSDF split into two
factions, or three if you count the Bat-ma-like, or non-aligned group,
which I led. The KNU s general secretary of Magui-Tavoy district,
Pado Ni Ni, invited me to come to his office in Min-Tha-Mee Khe at
the source of the Minthamee stream. This was about 10 kilometres
from our camp, Min-Tha-Mee Hta, where the Minthamee stream
meets the Tenasserim river. At the time, I was the coordinator for
three ABSDF factions in the area which comprised about 1000 troops
and family members.
Since the central committee of ABSDF splintered into two factions
in early 1992, some battalions had supported the Dr Naing Aungled
faction while the others followed Moe The Zun. But in our area,
Minthamee, where the two strongest battalions 201 and 203
were based, we had split into five groups divided by battalion and
allegiance. In battalion 203, about 100 soldiers led by Thaung Htun
(who is now resettled in New Zealand) supported Dr Naing Aung
while about 80 led by Htein Lin (who is now resettled in the US)
supported Moe The Zun. In battalion 201, we were split into three
factions: about 100 troops led by Zaw Than (who was killed by the
SPDC troops in a special operation in the Andaman sea in 1997)
supported Dr Naing Aung, while about 50 led by Kyaw Ya (who
surrendered to the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok in 1995) supported
Moe The Zun. About 200 troops stayed neutral and did not support
either side. I was the leader of this non-aligned faction and so they
chose me as a coordinator for all five groups.
The first lesson I learned in the jungle was how to use democratic
principles to resolve differences of opinions. We did not fight each
other with guns as our older brother organisations had done in the
past but with words. After the division into factions, we decided to
live separately and so went from two camps to five.
The reason the KNU wanted to see me now was to discuss the location
of one of the new camps. About 80 troops and family members from
battalion 203 led by Htein Lin were living at Alal-Store at that time,
between Minthamee Khe and Minthamee Hta. They had been driven
out by Thaung Htun s original base of battalion 203 on the banks of
the Tenasserim river. When I got to Pado Ni Ni s office, he confronted
me about the way the troops were treating their environment.
You students do not respect nature. The Minthamee stream is
nearly dying because of you guys digging for crabs and prawns and
whatever else you can find. You guys have also been cutting down
big trees for firewood without our permission, the KNU secretary
shouted at me.
Don t be angry with us Pado. Please provide more food for them
if you are worried about environmental damage, I said to him. He
became really angry with me when he realised my poor knowledge of
environmental issues. You must learn about the harmony of nature.
You need to attend our forestry department s class, he advised
me. As we were their guests, I decided to stop complaining to him
although I was well aware of the deforestation in the area under their
control as they sold thousands of tons of timber to Thai traders.
In the end, we agreed to move those 80 troops back to the banks of
the Tenasserim river near Dr Naing Aung s groups from battalion
203. All five camps were based together along the river for years
without any major problems until the Burmese troops moved in
in 1997.
**********
One sunny morning in March 1994, I travelled from the ABSDF office
in Bangkok to our new jungle camp opposite the popular Hua Hin
beach with an official from the International Refugee Committee
(IRC). We passed the beautiful beaches and the popular Ban La-
au Water fall and finally reached the last Thai village, Khaung Yai
(The big mountain) before our jungle camp. As we walked along
the stream to our camp, the lady from the IRC, seeing the paper,
plastics and food waste the students had thrown into the water, began
complaining to me that we did not respect the environment.
When we stopped for lunch along the way, we washed our hands and
dishesinthestreamaswedideveryday.ButtheIRCofficialcomplained
again and again that the ABSDF were not respecting environmental
law. As a Burmese rebel, I had never heard of environmental
htet aung Kyaw
law so I just smiled and paid no attention to her complaints.
Once we arrived at the camp, the IRC exclaimed loudly when I offered
her monkey curry for dinner. You guys are killers. You have killed
innocent wildlife. You are destroying the environment and nature,
she shouted and spent the whole night crying.
We had no idea why she was so angry. The next morning, some
students shot a monkey in a big tree just beside the camp and others
used the monkey s hand bone as a tool to make Yazin (cigarettes).
How can you complain? If you don t want us to kill monkeys, you
should provide us with proper food, meat and milk you are the
donor, I told her.
She was really upset now but we just laughed as we didn t understand
her feelings. I heard later that she wrote an official letter of complaint
to the ABSDF headquarters saying that battalions 201 and 203 were
destroying the environment and forest wildlife. If we did not stop,
she wrote, the IRC would cut our aid.
But we didn t care about that; perhaps we didn t understand the
value of our natural environment. So we continued shooting not
only monkeys but also any kind of wildlife we could use for food.
Sometimes we used hand-grenades in the river for easy fishing.
Three years later, I began to understand her point of view when
I met Sulak Sivaraksa, a social critic who was staging a protest in
Huay Khayaeng forest, Kanchanaburi province. He was campaigning
to save wild animals and protect forests in the path of the 700
kilometre long Yadana gas pipeline project stretching from the Gulf
of Martaban in Burma to Ratchaburi province in Thailand.
I often visited these forests as an activist turned professional
journalist to find out about the protests. Although I met many
environmentalists there, I struggled to understand why the small
animals the colourful crab, the exotic birds and the narrow
streams and deep forests were more important than billion-dollar
gas projects.
It was only when I arrived in Norway that I truly understood her
feelings. There are many ducks in the public lakes and beaches but
no one tried to catch them. I learned that there are many regulations
to protect wild animals, but, more importantly, no one thinks to kill
these animals as no one is hungry here.
htet aung Kyaw
Kawmura: My first battlefield
experience
Although I had been a student activist and rebel leader since 19
September 1988, I had never been arrested or had a gun pointed
at me by Burmese soldiers until I was in a Karen National Union
(KNU) camp near the Thai border in May 1989.
My first experience of being under fire took place in the middle of
the Moei river while I was trying to get to the KNU s Kawmura camp
from Baan Wang Kaew on the Thai side of the border during a clash
between Burmese regime troops and the KNU.
Just after the 1988 uprising the Burmese regime, then known as the
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), had launched an
offensive against the KNU-controlled Mathawall hill. The hill was a
very important strategic point for controlling the road between the
KNU s headquarters in Manaplaw and Mae Sot. Kaladay camp was
right next to the hill. The KNU led all the armed groups, including
the thousands of students and politicians newly arrived from the
cities, under the umbrella of the Democratic Alliance of Burma, the
first coordinated coalition of Burmans and ethnic nationalities.
After they gained control of Mathawall in early 1989, SLORC troops
were easily able to take Caladay, Maw Pokay, Mae La, Ye Kyaw and
many other camps along the road to Mae Sot. Kawmura was the only
stronghold to fight back against regime troops at that time.
A light rain was falling one afternoon in May 1989. I was travelling
from the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) office in
Mae Sot to the KNU s Kawmura camp to bring food for my comrades
who had been fighting against Burmese soldiers for weeks. After
30 minutes on a red minibus, I saw heavily armed Thai soldiers
with M-16 rifles and some 105-MM mortar artillery shelling taking
place in the village next to Baan Wang Kaew, opposite Kawmura.
All the buses were forced to stop here and were not allowed to go
any further.
Fortunately, I saw the family of a woman I knew in a house beside
the Thai army posts. I knew her as Amoe, the name by which elderly
Karen women are commonly called; I do not remember her real
name. I knew her from Kawmura where she had run a tea shop before
the fighting broke out. She later opened the tea shop again and ran
it for years despite the ongoing fighting. She and her family told me
that Thai and Karen officials would not give me permission to go to
Kawmura now as heavy fighting was taking place. Amoe suggested
that I wait until evening if I really wanted to go there.
In fact, I had been living in Kawmura for a month before the fighting
broke out. There were several hundred troops fighting against the
Burmese army, including my group which was called the ABSDF
(KNU Territory). Our group led by Kyaw Kyaw, who is now leader
of the Network for Development and Democracy was overseeing 13
camps and coordinating between the camps and the ABSDF Central
Committee. Heavy fighting broke out while I was in Mae Sot and it
was very hard for me to get back to Kawmura.
There was no telephone to consult with the Mae Sot ABSDF office
whether I should press ahead to Kawmura or return to Mae Sot.
The Karen officials with walkie-talkies had no permission to talk to
ABSDF officials in the camp during the heavy fighting. So I made
the decision to go ahead with my plan to go to Kawmura.
Amoe spoke to some Karen soldiers in civilian clothing about my trip
and they asked me some questions in Karen about my identity and
my background. I was not fluent in the Karen language compared
with my comrades who had been living on the frontlines with Karen
soldiers for years. So they questioned me in Thai. My Thai was poor
as well but it was slightly better than my Karen. In the end, we talked
in Burmese but they weren t too happy about it as we needed to sneak
across the border beside the Burmese troops outposts. So I didn t
talk much but just followed along behind them.
htet aung Kyaw
10
At about 6.30pm, we reached a thatched hut in the forest beside the
Moei river, on the opposite side to the camp, where I encountered
some KNU intelligence officials. They again asked me some similar
questions in Karen. Finally, we crossed the river to the camp under
the cover of darkness, as we were worried that Burmese soldiers
could see us through binoculars from the top of the hills where their
camps were situated. The water level of Moei came up to our chests
as it was just the beginning of the rainy season.
Unfortunately, we came under fire when we were half-way across
the river as the Burmese army resumed the heavy shelling of
Kawmura and the Karen returned fire. I crouched down in the water
while bullets fell around me. Two Karen soldiers who were leading
me to the camp shouted some words in Karen. I had a limited
understanding of Karen, but I guessed that they were something
like, Don t shoot us, we are Karen . The bullets continued to fall
but a little further away from me. Finally I reached a big bunker
belonging to KNU forces in Kawmura.
To this day, I am still not sure whether the shooting was just the
Karen rebels way of testing me or if it was a real attack as I never
got the chance to ask the people responsible. But a few days later,
my comrades in the Kawmura battle field told me, That was a lesson
we often faced from our allies in the battle zones.
I did not have long to talk about this incident with my comrades
as heavy artillery shells continued to fall from the hills that were
occupied by the Burmese army almost every day. The Burmese troops
fired 120-mm mortars, 82-mm mortars, 60-mm mortars, 84-mm
launchers, .5-mm machine guns and G-4 rifles while we returned
fire with 57-mm launchers, 80-mm mortars, 60-mm mortars, RPG
7, AK-47s and M-16 rifles.
One of my ABSDF comrades from battalion 211 and a Karen soldier
from the 57-mm launcher artillery post who were standing right
beside me were killed by shrapnel from the shells. They were a bit
careless, failing to take cover when the rest of us crawled into tunnels
and ran to the bunkers after we heard the noise of shells coming out
of the mortar barrels from the direction of the enemy s hill. They
were also quite unlucky because they were not hit directly by the
11
shells but by splinters that ricocheted off a large teak tree near our
bunker.
I don t know the exact number of casualties on our side but I am
certain that it was only one or two percent of those suffered by the
Burmese troops. With my own eyes I saw hundreds of bodies, hand
grenades, helmets, ID cards, guns and knives of Burmese soldiers
scattered in front of our frontline bunkers, in a place we called the
killing ground.
Kawmura camp is not much bigger than one square kilometre or
about100 football fields, confined within the horseshoe bend of
the Moei river on the border with Thailand. The frontline which
separated us from the enemy was only 100 metres wide at the top of
the horseshoe where the Burmese troops were trying to come in.
Soldiers from the ABSDF s battalion 211 and the Karen National
Liberation Army (KNLA) Special Battalion 101 led by colonel Taw
Hla built heavily fortified bunkers along enemy lines while a number
of normal bunkers were built along the river. We built three barbed
wire fences in front of the fortified bunkers and three rows of
bamboo traps. We also had many natural bamboo trees in front of
our bunkers which hid us from the view of enemy binoculars looking
down from the top of the hill. Those bamboo trees also protected
our bunkers from direct shelling as the shells needed to penetrate
the bamboo first.
But unbelievably, although everything was in our favour, hundreds
of Burmese soldiers tried to advance on the killing ground in wave
after wave while their commanders ordered artillery shelling of our
bunkers. Most of the fighting took place in the early morning and
evening. All we needed to do was sit and wait in our bunkers until the
enemy reached the last line of barbed wire then pull the triggers of
our AK-47s. It was so hard to understand why the waves of Burmese
soldiers kept on coming to the killing ground even though they had
seen hundreds of their comrades killed before them.
It is difficult to estimate the number of casualties among Burmese
troops during the six-year battle. Our location, preparations,
commanders and the political will among the rebel organisations
htet aung Kyaw
12
made it very hard for the Burmese army to capture Kawmura and
it took them almost six years, from May 1989 to February 1995,
to wrest control of the camp from the KNU. I was there only three
months and then backed to Minthamee camp for the ABSDF s
second conference.
13
at gunpoint on the thai-
Burma border
I found myself at gunpoint again in early 1995 when I tried to sneak
across the border to Minthamee Camp with a foreign journalist.
It was a sunny afternoon in January 1995. I was on my way back
from the ABSDF office in Bangkok to Minthamee camp, across the
border from Hwaynamkhong in Thailand s Kanchanaburi province,
accompanied by a western journalist. We got off the bus just before
we reached a Thai border checkpoint and walked along a jungle
path to our camp as we often did when crossing the border to avoid
questions from Thai soldiers.
But this time, unbeknown to us, Thai villagers informed the
checkpoint officials that a white man had followed a Burmese man
into the jungle. After we had been walking for about 15 minutes, I
heard Thai voices and the heavy tread of jungle boots. First we hid
behind a big tree but then I began to worry that they might shoot
us by mistake and so I called out, We are here .
Three Thai border guards pointed their M-16 rifles at us and took
us to their base. They asked me many questions in Thai. My Thai
language skills had improved by this time, but I was still not able
to communicate easily so the guards contacted some KNU officials
nearby. Why is a farang [foreigner] going with you into the jungle?
the Thai officer asked me.
After a night in jail in the army hut and hours of discussion at
Kanchanaburi police station, we were finally allowed to proceed to
our camp. Minthamee is located between Kanchanaburi province
in Thailand and the Tavoy district of Burma. We built the camp in
the hills alongside the Tenasserim river.
This is such a nice place with a good view, the Austrian video-
journalist said when we arrived at my hut by the river. We had
never thought of our place as nice but for him, a western journalist,
htet aung Kyaw
14
everything was new and interesting. His visit gave me my first
opportunity to learn how professional journalists work on the
ground.
The Austrian had come to our camp to make a short documentary
about ABSDF activities. He wanted to focus on our military actions,
so we took him to the frontline where we faced Burmese troops. It
was not an easy journey from Minthamee camp in the border area to
the Andaman Sea. After two days on a tail-boat along the Tenasserim
river and another two days on foot, we reached Pyicha village in
Palaw township where our frontline troops were based.
The Austrian video-journalist actually wanted to film while we
were fighting with the SPDC troops, but this would have been a
deadly game. So I told my column commander Hla Oo (who is now
resettled in US) to avoid enemy outposts as we made our way to
Lake-U-Thaung, a coastal village where we were due to address a
public meeting. After five nights and four days travelling along the
Andaman coast, we concluded our trip with a speech at a public
meeting at a bus station in nearby Palaw town.
The hour-long documentary Knife to Knife, Lance to Lance that
resulted from this trip was broadcast in Austria in 1996 and DVB
has often used the footage taken for stories on the ABSDF and
jungle life.
15
role of the educated in the
revolution
Published in The Nation on 18 April 1999
Where are the educated people, and why are they not leading the
fight for Burma s freedom?
Most educated Burmese want to go to foreign countries rather than
to lead people to fight for their rights and for a change of government
from the military to a democratic system, question in my mind. We
cannot bring democracy to Burma, so we go to democratic countries!
It is a big joke among the exiled students in the safe area.
In the middle of March, about 900 Burmese students were permitted
to go to the safe area , Baan Maniloi, Ratchaburi, southwest of
Bangkok. There they must wait to go to third countries. This is the
largest number of students to enter the safe camp at any one time
in the past eight years.
There are about 600 students staying in this camp who have
obtained refugee status from the United Nations High Commission
for Refugees (UNHCR) Bangkok office.
Since November 1992, about 900 students have gone to third
countries, Aung Htun, a 38-year-old former student from Rangoon
University, told the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). Now, he
is a leader in the Burmese Students Association (BSA) in the safe
area.
The camp, formerly a unit of the Border Patrol Police (BPP), has
the official name of the Burmese Students Centre. There are ten
barracks and several huts in the approximately 1,000 square metre
compound.
Some students are sleeping without a fan under a hot zinc roof.
Some are sitting and talking while they smoke in the tea and betel
htet aung Kyaw
16
nut shops. A few are in the library and some of their children are
studying in Dawn School.
An official of the Thai Home Ministry controls the camp, which
is coordinated by the UNHCR. There have been many problems
between the Thai authorities and students seeking more rights,
such as more electricity, larger barracks, more frequent travel, more
political activities and more open media.
However, the United States, Canada and Australia are becoming
the students new homelands because in their minds there is no
alternative for their future. Most of them are former members of the
All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), which was founded
on the Thai-Burma border after the 8888 popular uprising.
We are democratic, so anyone can choose their own way. We should
not control them. But it must be clear, the ABSDF never urges people
to go away from Burma. Our main forces are inland. We hope that
they will continue the struggle in their own way, and go back to
Burma after their studies, explained Aung Naing Oo, spokesperson
for the ABSDF, about the Front s policy for the students.
Why do people want to go to third countries?
Because we have no option. We cannot go back to Burma and we
cannot live in Thailand, said a former member who recently resigned
from the ABSDF. We must choose our own way for our future. If I
could go back to Burma with a guarantee of being a political activist,
I m sure I would not have chosen this refugee life.
But some exiled students did not agree with his comment. I think
we have some options. We should choose to stay in Thailand if we
want to continue the struggle because it s the nearest country. There
are one million Burmese living here, why is it just the students who
cannot stay? complained an exiled Burmese student who is now an
NGO worker in Bangkok.
A senior leader of the ABSDF disapproved of students applying to
go to third countries. He said in a border camp, When people take
this option the revolutionary forces on the border and inside Burma
lose numbers and strength.
17
Despite the controversy, 80 percent of exiled educated Burmese try
to go third countries. Why?
Moreover, on the other side of the border, the SPDC controlled area,
what is the situation of educated people?
Inside Burma, about 15 percent of educated people go to foreign
countries to find good jobs. This is because the military rulers have
no respect for their status. They have no right to talk, write, or think
freely. In Burma, having a fax machine or access to the internet can
incur a punishment of seven years in jail. Another problem is that
salaries are so poor.
There are two points. First, we don t like the military rulers
and second, we need a higher salary, said a Burmese lecturer in
Bangkok s Assumption Business Administration College (ABAC)
University.
Her monthly salary in Rangoon University was 1,750 kyat (about
175 Thai baht) and she had no right to make any suggestions to
the university. Now, in Bangkok, her salary is nearly 20,000 baht,
she has her own computer with internet access and her opinion is
valued.
At the same time, some young educated rebels are still fighting the
junta by armed struggle in the jungle along the border. They describe
educated people who have gone to foreign countries as selfish .
What is the role of educated people in Burma s revolution?
Most analysts have said that the world situation has changed already
from favouring armed struggle to dialogue. The middle classes, or
educated people, are the leaders of the next revolutions.
For example in May 1992 in Thailand, educated people led a
revolution by demonstrating against the military dictator, general
Suchinda Kraprayoon, on the streets of Bangkok.
About 60 percent of Thais are from the educated middle classes. How
large is the middle class in Burma? No one can say with precision.
Asian countries have some differences in their backgrounds.
htet aung Kyaw
18
Thailand, the Philippines and Korea are developed, so their
revolution was led by the middle class. But Burma, Indonesia and
Cambodia are not yet developed so they do not have a strong middle
class, commented a Burmese journalist studying political science
in London.
Obviously, the educated Burmese people are afraid of the authorities
more than in any other country. They are easy for the generals to
control because they work in government departments as civil
servants. There are no independent academics, civil institutions,
or NGOs in Burma.
Even people living outside Burma are afraid of the generals. The
MIS [Military Intelligence Service] knows everything about us, they
have records for everyone in their embassies. If I give an interview,
first they will cancel my passport and then they will warn my family
in Rangoon, said an engineer in Bangkok.
This is the case not only for engineers but also for 90 percent of
Burmese, including some journalists who work for foreign-based
news agencies and for radio stations.
Dr Myo Nyunt, a Burmese economics professor from Edith Cowan
University in Australia, commented in an interview with DVB: All
educated people don t like military rule. We want a change to a new
government in our country.
But we know that the Burmese generals are different to rulers in
any other part of the world. They are very cruel and very obstinate
and they never respond to the world community s pressure.
The lecturer from ABAC agreed with his comment. Educated
people in Burma had a role in which they did not openly challenge
the military s control. Because of this, educated people obey illegal
commands from ignorant people [soldiers]. So I decided in my mind
never to go back to Burma until there is democracy.
Almost all educated Burmese share her opinion. But the question is,
who will bring democracy to Burma for them? They are forgetting
their own role in the democracy movement. Therefore, it seems the
educated people are more afraid of the junta than the grassroots
19
people are!
You Burmese are not only afraid but also wracked with disunity.
I have met many opposition groups in exile. If you cannot fix these
problems, how you can face a strong army? a western journalist
said in criticising his Burmese counterparts.
I see everyone waiting and hoping for Aung San Suu Kyi to reach
for democracy. But they are not listening to her freedom from fear ,
they are still afraid.
However, most educated Burmese want to go to foreign countries
rather than to lead people to fight for their rights and for a change
of government from the military to a democratic system.
We cannot bring democracy to Burma, so we go to democratic
countries! It is a big joke among the exiled students in the safe
area.
We want to study modern technology and science in developed
countries. One day, I hope we can help Burma as academics in the
re-established country, said the former member of the ABSDF.
How many people are just waiting for that one day ? How many
people are really fighting to take that one day ? Obviously, that
one day cannot be reached automatically.
We [educated people] are not policy makers. We are just policy
instruments. We have spent over ten years in the jungle and we have
no chance here to study further. So, the leaders must think about
how to solve this brain drain, the former member continued.
Actually, no one wants to stay in the jungle or under the military
rulers in Burma. So why do people still live in the jungle and under
the soldiers?
We are the new generation of the 8888 uprising. There must be an
end to the military dictator in our era. This is our 8888 generation s
historical task, claimed the ABSDF senior leader.
No one would argue that the educated should not study in developed
countries for the re-establishment of Burma. But this does not
htet aung Kyaw
20
mean that all educated people from Burma should go to foreign
countries.
What is the role of the educated in the coming uprising?
Are they just waiting outside the country until democracy is achieved?
Or are they leading people in the struggle for Burma?

21
htet aung Kyaw
22
part two | 9999 : active days of student warriors
23
Part twO:
9999 : active days of student
warriors
htet aung Kyaw
24
an alert for the coming 9999
uprising?
Published in The Nation on 14 March 1999
In 1988, in what later came to be known as the 8888 uprising,
Burmese students led the fight against the military junta. A decade
later, they are now talking about a 9999 incident.
Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of Burma s Human Rights Day.
Ko Phone Maw, a 21-year old engineering student was killed by the
army in the compound of Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT),
and was the first martyr among 3000 people killed in the 8888
uprising.
At the time, they [riot police] shot at us with real bullets when we
asked the soldiers to go back to their barracks. We could not see
anything under the smoke-bomb and we ran like blind men, recalled
Ko Kyaw Htin in a border shelter camp. He was an RIT student at
the time. Now, he is a leader of the All Burma Students Democratic
Front (ABSDF).
We had never experienced anything like this. I thought they would
shoot plastic bullets and smoke-bombs. They believed that the
police would not use real bullets or enter the RIT compound.
The evening before, five RIT students had clashed with young
civilians in an RIT tea shop. A general s son wielding a knife injured
the RIT students. They called on the authorities to take action in
the case.
But the junta s reply was, It s the students mistake, they wanted
violence. This message challenged the students like a spark. If the
junta s reply had not been so stupid, the 8888 uprising may not
have begun at that point.
A day later, hundreds of thousands of students began an anti
25
authority demonstration in the RIT for the first time in the 26
years under Ne Win s Burmese Socialist Programme Party (BSPP)
military rule.
At least two students were killed in the shooting, and about 30
injured. People were very angry with the government about the killing
of the students. Then people joined the students to demonstrate in
downtown Rangoon. They smashed state-owned cars, buses and
buildings and shouted No confidence in the BSPP and Hold an
independent investigation into the case of Ko Phone Maw .
General Ne Win and his men from the BSPP were very surprised
at the students sudden reaction. In their thinking, no one could
challenge them while they stood watch with guns. Then they ordered
the closure of all universities and the sending home of students.
But their plan was not successful. The students and people
demonstrated again when the universities reopened in June. That
time the demonstrations were more violent and wider, spreading
to other universities and cities.
However, strongman Ne Win never reviewed his BSPP s policy. He
declaimed in BSPP s parliament, The army will never shoot into the
air. If they shoot, the guns will be aimed at the people. If someone
wants to complain to BSPP, he must be careful of my guns.
After his speech, no one could control the angry people. People
demonstrated all over the country- including in border towns and
villages. They cried, Enough is enough, BSPP , Don t need Ne Win
regime and Build a Student Union .
People could not tolerate any more by that time. They had been
facing suppression from military rule for 26 years. At the time, our
tea shop case inflamed the people to challenge Ne Win s dictator
regime, said another RIT student.
The ABSDF reviewed political progress in the last ten years in their
5th conference on the northern border of Thailand. They analysed
the 8888 uprising and the current political situation in deciding
how to move forward.
htet aung Kyaw
26
In the last 8888 uprising, we could abolish the BSPP with four
presidents and all its administration, but why could we not take
final victory? asked one in the conference hall.
It s a big lesson for us. We were not ready to find a new government
and did not understand that opportunity only knocks once .
They said, Now we have a leading political party with a strong
leader. And the people are also more knowledgeable than in 8888.
This could be the main difference between 8888 and 9999.
The ABSDF decided to choose this year s Human Rights Day to alert
people to begin a campaign for a 9999 (9 September 1999) uprising
in Burma. They said, The whole political situation is ripe. People
are just waiting for a spark.
The young political idealists said, The students and people are ready
to show people power like in the 8888 uprising. They are just waiting
for a clear message from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
They cited last year s student demonstrations in Rangoon in August
and September on the 10th anniversary of 8888.
Moe The Zun, one of the masterminds of the ABSDF, told the
Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), We believe that there is just
one path to achieve democracy. It s the people power way.
The ABSDF concluded that it is not enough just to use the legal way
of the people s parliament advocated by the National League for
Democracy (NLD). People power must be added.
They said, There are many pressures from the outside world and
inside the country to transfer power from the military to the elected
government. But the junta never responds to outside pressure.
People chose their representatives for their new government in
the 1990 May election. Now these representatives have called for a
people s parliament and urged dialogue.
However, the junta s reply was to arrest more than 200 MPs and
more than 1,000 members of the NLD. Then the Military Intelligence
Service forced the resignations of MPs and members throughout
27
the whole country. Now over 50 per cent of NLD members and MPs
have resigned, been jailed or gone into exile.
Recently, the New Light of Myanmar, a state-controlled daily paper,
said, Every day, one MP and approximately 30 members resign,
and one township level committee abolishes its office. This is of their
own volition, as they did not like Suu Kyi s confrontational way to
parliament. The junta knows nothing about justice, legitimacy and
the people s desire.
The generals have encouraged the NLD to choose people power,
by rejecting all other ways and backing them into a corner, the
ABSDF accused.
They added, The NLD has called for dialogue since the 1990 May
election. And now it has called a people s parliament. But the junta
never responds. Therefore, we would like to say enough is enough .
The NLD has no chance to choose any other way. Today, the NLD s
main task is to lead people into the final battle.
Mr James, a spokesperson for ceasefire armed group the Kachin
Independent Organisation, commented in an interview with DVB,
There is no law and order in this country at the moment. So the
NLD should not confront the junta because no soldiers are interested
in justice and legitimacy. They are only interested in the power of
their guns.
He added, This country needs national reconciliation. If no side
can eradicate the other, there is just one path and that must be
negotiation.
No one doubts that the country needs national reconciliation, except
the SPDC.
The source said that the NLD has chosen March to begin preparations
for 9999. Which is the best way for this country? Dialogue or
devastation?
Everybody wants to choose dialogue and negotiate. But the ruling
junta is still rejecting dialogue. If this continues, there is only one
way left for the people - that is people power in the coming 9999
uprising.
htet aung Kyaw
28
Learning in limbo: educating
a neglected generation
Published in The Irrawaddy in May 1999
Some young people in a thatched hut in a camp on the Thai-Burma
border are debating the educational problems facing young people
in Burma today. We must improve our education level and then
change the curriculum in all schools in the liberated area, declared
one student with emotion.
This subject was being discussed during a brief one-off seminar
on the current education situation in Burma organized by the All
Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF). Most ABSDF members
never graduated from university because they were deprived of their
right to continue their education for participating in the 8888
demonstrations.
In Rangoon, the army closed all universities after the 8888 uprising.
In the past decade, universities have been open for a total of only
about two years. They were re-opened briefly following elections in
1990, but then shut down again after students demonstrated to show
their support for Aung San Suu Kyi when she won the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize. The universities have been closed most of the time since
December 1996, when protests were held at the Rangoon Institute
of Technology. Protests by RIT students during the brief reopening
of universities for examinations in August 1998 probably mean that
they will not be opened again soon.
While students in open societies are debating whether education
should be for business or knowledge, students in Burma don t even
have the right to go to university. It s a very sad situation for the
generation of Burmese who will be leading the country in the future,
lamented a Burmese lecturer at Assumption Business Administration
College in Bangkok. More than 500 Burmese professors and lecturers
teach at universities in Thailand, while thousands more teach in
29
the US, Europe, Japan and other countries. Most left their native
country because there were no jobs for them at Burmese universities,
or because they could not stand working under military supervisors
with no understanding of educational matters.
Extremely poor salaries are another reason many leave Burma.
My monthly salary at Rangoon University was 1750 kyat (about
six dollars), while a meal in the market cost nearly 100 kyat. How
could I live on just my own income? I still had to get money from
my parents, said a lecturer in an interview with the Democratic
Voice of Burma. She now earns nearly 20,000 baht (about US$500)
a month at a Thai university, where she also has her own computer
with an Internet connection. Now, she says, she can even afford to
send some money to her parents.
Students are their enemies
Instead of helping lecturers to become better educators, the emphasis
of teacher training under the military regime is learning how to
control students in order to prevent them from participating in
demonstrations. They warned us that if one of our students joins
a protest, we will be sent to jail for six months, said a lecturer who
is now working in Thailand.
In the generals minds, the students are their enemies. A dramatic
example of this mindset at work was general Ne Win s destruction
of the Students Union Building at Rangoon University on 7 July
1962. The dictator evidently wanted to make his attitude towards
the students abundantly clear.
Ne Win and his Tatmadaw [military] men have never had a good
view of students. They are psychopaths who are afraid of educated
people. They only want uneducated people who will obey their
commands in Burma, commented Dr Mya Maung from Boston
College, who worked for many years as a teacher at the Defence
Services Academy in Maymyo. Soon after the State Law and Order
Council (SLORC) took power in 1988, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the
powerful first secretary of the ruling junta, became the chairman
htet aung Kyaw
30
of the National Education Committee. He is also the chief of the
Military Intelligence Service (MIS), which orders teachers to spy
on their students.
These facts alone do a great deal to explain why the education system
in Burma is in such bad shape. Another serious problem that derives
from the military s attitude towards students is underfunding. While
4 percent of the national budget is spent on education, over 40
percent goes to the military. There are nearly half a million soldiers
in Burma, and roughly the same number of students who are waiting
for the universities to re-open. Before the student demonstrations
in December 1996, the junta planned to shorten the university
curriculum from four years to two years in an effort to deal with the
large number of high school graduates who spent years waiting just
to get into university.
Now it looks as if they will not even get a two-year education. Most
young students in Rangoon are sitting in teashops waiting for the
universities to re-open. They want to do something but there s
nothing they can do, said a Thai NGO worker who recently attended
an education seminar in Rangoon. The sight of jobless young people
sitting in teashops is a common one in Rangoon. Not as visible are
the many would-be students who have turned to drugs to deal with
the hopelessness of their situation.
Nor can you see the many others who have moved to Thailand in
search of work, or those sent to prison for engaging in political
activities. The world community and NGOs should hurry to Burma
to promote education, even if the universities are closed. There is no
one else here who can help the younger generation. So we should not
wait until the government changes, said the Thai NGO worker.
The state of education in Burma is often ridiculed in Burmese
popular culture. In a well-known censored song, the singer laments
that after he graduates, he will have to ask his friend, who didn t pass
high school, to give him a job. While university graduates in many
countries complain about the difficulty of finding a decent job, in
Burma it is no exaggeration to say that many educated people are
lucky to find jobs as taxi or trishaw drivers. When a famous comedian
interviewing a recent high school graduate on state-run television
31
jokingly congratulated her on completing her education, he obviously
struck a little too close to home. He was arrested the next day and
sentenced to a six-month jail term for making the remark.
Another weak point in Burma s education system is corruption.
Money or even force is often used to ensure that the children of
influential people always do well in examinations and get into the
best universities. If you can give 100,000 kyat, you are sure to win
distinction in the high school examination, said one student. For
teachers earning negligible salaries, accepting bribes is undoubtedly
an irresistible temptation.
The problem of closed universities exists only for ordinary people.
This problem is just for us because we are not VIPs, said one
student in Rangoon who has been waiting to enter university since
1995. VIP refers to members of families with military connections,
who can attend such institutions as the Defense Studies Academy, the
Military Institute of Medicine, the Military Institute of Technology,
the Military Institute of Economics, or the Military Institute of
Computer Science.
Moving forward
Finding a solution to these problems will not be easy, but activists
in the liberated area are determined to make a start. At the ABSDF
education seminar held on the Thai-Burma border, it was decided
that a plan should be drawn up to promote education in the liberated
area while universities in the rest of the country remain closed.
According to figures compiled by the National Educational Council,
established in Manerplaw in 1993 by the National Council for the
Union of Burma (NCUB), the liberated area has 19 high schools,
95 middle schools and 1209 primary schools, with a total of almost
150,000 students. This includes schools in areas under the control
of ethnic cease-fire groups.
We have a plan to do a seminar to develop a curriculum for the
whole liberated area. But now we have no stable area, and another
problem is the various ethnic languages, said an officer of the NEC,
htet aung Kyaw
32
adding that their main task right now is to find supporting groups. At
present, the Norway Burma Council is their main donor. A student
at the ABSDF Headquarters School said, Now I study in the 6th
standard, but I don t know when we will have to move again.
Burmese army offensives have forced his school to move five times in
the past seven years. Burmese soldiers killed both his parents in his
village when he was five years old. They [the ABSDF and the Karen
National Union] are pushing for better education but their camps
are not stable, said an Australian volunteer teacher at the ABSDF
Headquarters School. I believe that the Burmese are much more
interested in education than people in my country, he added.
When he visited Rangoon, he said people asked him how the
education system in other countries differed from that in Burma.
They also asked him about relations between students and soldiers.
Another western education worker involved in a teacher training
program commented that while the ABSDF and KNU were very
interested in promoting education, they were often too busy with
their political activities to devote much energy to it. He said that he
was working on a six-month program, but after three months, they
still hadn t completed the translation of teaching materials from
English into Burmese and Karen. He added that there was also a
shortage of teachers, especially ones with a professional teaching
background.
Most of the teachers receiving training were former soldiers,
politicians, doctors, or engineers. The headmaster at the ABSDF
Headquarters School is a mining engineer with no previous teaching
experience. One of the teachers working under him is a former
battalion commander from the Students Army. The headmaster was
appointed to his position, but the soldier-cum-teacher was more
than willing to make a career change.
I chose myself as a teacher because I believe that we should share
our education with the new generation here. While he seemed happy
about his new line of work, not everybody shared his enthusiasm
for teaching. One leader who used to work as a professional teacher
in Burma remarked that A commander is more important than a
33
teacher in the revolutionary area. We came here to do political work,
not to teach. For some, the education problem is merely an offshoot
of the political situation. If we can change the whole political system
to make a democratic government, it [the education problem] will
be solved automatically, commented one activist.
Meanwhile, Burmese opposition groups continue to seek ways to
educate young people. One effective approach to providing post
secondary education has been through the Distance Education

Program, a correspondence course using a curriculum developed by
an Australian university. The DEP has proven very useful to former
students who weren t able to complete their university studies in
Burma, and younger people who have graduated from high schools
in refugee camps in border areas of Thailand and India. To date, the
DEP has reached more than 300 students. Another option available
to some exceptional students is sponsorship to study in foreign
countries. Hundreds of students have received scholarships from
the Open Society Institute and some US and Australian universities,
giving them a chance to study at universities in Thailand, India or
in third countries.
While such opportunities exist for a small minority of students,
however, many obstacles remain for the majority of Burmese who
live in foreign countries without official recognition. The Thai Action
Committee for Democracy in Burma, an NGO based in Thailand,
established a primary school for the children of immigrants living in
Mahachai, Bangkok s Little Burma , but the school was later shut
down for security reasons .
Zaw Htoo, a 20-year-old history student from Tavoy College, has
been waiting since December 1996 for a chance to resume his studies.
In the meantime, he works at a fish-processing factory in Mahachai.
We are the victims of an inadequate education system and political
unrest, he says. In my factory, all Thai graduates get high positions
and good salaries, but all we can do is manual labor. But even if
he had graduated, he would have been lucky to earn two thousand
kyat (roughly 200 baht) a month in Burma, compared to his present
salary of 4,500 baht. Now he is not certain if he would return to
Burma even if he had a chance to continue his studies.
htet aung Kyaw
34
The junta in Rangoon recently ordered all high schools to hold
separate examinations, to prevent a large gathering of students in
one place. The same order informed teachers that they could give
students extra marks for holding correct political views. About
300,000 students sat for high school examinations held in early
March, of whom around 100,000 could be expected to pass. That
means there will be a significant increase in the backlog of students
waiting to enter university. If universities are not opened in the near
future, the total number could reach a million within a few years.
Until Burma s military regime realizes that this figure represents
a tremendous loss for the country s future, it is unlikely to risk
reopening the universities. But while the generals clearly wish to
see their hold on power last in perpetuity, they seem to regard the
future as somebody else s problem.
35
Fuel to the fire
Published in The Bangkok Post on 14 February 1999; written with
Ralph Bachoe
With the Yadana gas pipeline, oil industry giants have added to
tensions along the Thai-Burmese border.
In a silent market shrouded in morning mist near this western Thai
border pass, a group of Buddhist monks winds its way from one
devotee to another to accept meagre and humble offerings. Devout
Buddhists, in return, receive merit for filling the bowls of these pious
men in saffron robes.
Since the Burmese army ordered the pass closed, the merchants and
traders have vanished, lamented U Pha Su, a Tavoyan who has spent
half of his 60 years in the once bustling village of Ban I-Taung.
Ban I-Taung, a Thai border check point in Thong Pha Phum township,
is in Kanchanaburi province where the 700-kilometre Yadana gas
pipeline crosses the border. The pipeline stretches from the Gulf of
Martaban in Burma to Ratchaburi province in Thailand.
The pipeline project began in the summer of 1995 after the then
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, now the State Peace
and Development Council, granted gas exploration rights in Burmese
waters in 1992 to Total of France and Unocal (Union Oil of California)
of the United States. The Petroleum Authority of Thailand signed a
contract to buy the gas from these two Western oil giants.
The project has since drawn protests from human rights groups,
environmentalists and Burmese villagers affected from the laying
of the pipeline.
U Pha Suu and other shop owners say the project damaged their
business after the Burmese army shut the border pass. Before the
project was launched, Ban-I-Taung, like any other border village,
was a bustling trading outpost where thousands of dollars changed
htet aung Kyaw
36
hands on the black market. Goods from Burma -jade, lead, tin,
wolfram, seafood, cattle and other resources were transacted in
return for electrical components, auto spares, garments, canned
food, soft-drinks and gold from Thailand.
In December 1991, the Burmese army launched a major offensive
at Nat I-Taung (opposite Ban I-Taung) controlled by the Karen
National Union (KNU) and the All Burma Students Democratic
Front (ABSDF). During the attack, about 100 houses, a school, a
monastery and a church were torched. About 1,000 Tavoyans fled
to the Thai border.
Of the 40 battalions now scattered along the Tenasserim Division
in southern Burma, 10 are assigned to secure the pipeline and five
to guard construction of the Kanchanaburi Tavoy highway. The 10
battalions come under Strategic Command No.8 (Light Infantry
Battalions 401 and 410) and have now been joined by Infantry
Battalions 273 and 282.
Accommodation for the troops along the pipeline route was allegedly
built by forced labour, with villagers not only put to work from dawn
to dusk but providing construction materials like wood, bamboo
and thatch. In addition, land was allegedly confiscated without any
compensation.
In the summer of 1996, we had to work for the soldiers using our
own building tools [knives, hammers, saws, mattocks, etc.] and
material [wood, bamboo, thatch], said a refugee from Ohn-pyin
gwin; near Kanbauk village,in Tavoy district.

We were ordered to arrive at their compound by 7am and work
until 5pm. We also had to bring our own food, he said.
He was talking to a reporter from the Democratic Voice of Burma
(DVB) at a Burmese quarters of 3,000 in Thong Pha Phum who had
fled Kanbauk to escape harassment from the military.
Accusations of forced labour were also voiced by the Burmese
opposition in exile and international organisations such as Amnesty
International, the International Labour Organisation and Asia
Watch. They claimed a 160-kilometre railway line had been built
37
with forced labour to help facilitate construction of the pipeline.
The $1-billion Yadana project was completed last year and has
already began pumping gas to Thailand.
An official from Total has denied the allegations, saying the region
has shown speedy progress since the company arrived. The
company has also published a pictorial depicting how it had aided
development in 12 villages in the Kanbauk area by building schools,
dispensaries, markets, monasteries, churches and by promoting
livestock farming.
However, an information officer of the ABSDF brushed aside this
publication as sheer propaganda. Why he said, if all this is true,
are people fleeing to Thailand? In truth, he said, the people faced all
kinds of suffering such as portering, forced labour, land confiscation
and displacement.
According to local estimates, 15,000 refugees displaced by the project
are now sheltered in camps in Tham Hin, in Ratchaburi, and Ban
Taung Yan in Sangkhla Buri district, Kanchanaburi.
In September 1996, Burmese opposition groups sued Unocal,
alleging the gas deal with the Burmese regime resulted in widespread
human rights abuses.
The suit was filed in Los Angeles, where Unocal has its main office
by the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (the
parallel government-in-exile) and the Federation of Trade Unions
of Burma. It was filed on behalf on the Burmese who had been
displaced, killed or forced to work without pay on a railway in
preparation for the pipeline construction.
Also, mounting pressure from American and Burmese activists
in exile to halt investments in Burma, eventually forced the US
administration to impose economic sanctions on the military
government in late 1997.
President Clinton issued an executive order to ban new US
investments in Burma because of the country s increased repression
of democracy efforts.
htet aung Kyaw
38
Since then, multinational giants such as Texaco, Arco and Pepsi have
withdrawn from Burma.
Earlier, in 1997, Texaco together with Premier Petroleum of the
United Kingdom, Nippon Oil Exploration and PTT Exploration and
Production of Thailand, a wholly-owned affiliate of PTT, signed a
30-year contract with Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise to supply
Thailand with natural gas from Burma s Yetagun offshore field.
After Texaco s withdrawal, Malaysia s Petronas joined the
consortium.
AFP, the French news agency, recently quoted official reports from
Burma that the Yetagun pipeline will be completed by the end of this
year, after which it will pump natural gas to Thailand. Construction
began in November last year.
The Yetagun field, in the Andaman Sea west of Burma, lies south of
the massive Yadana field and is estimated to hold 1,100 billion cubic
feet (33 billion cubic metres) of gas reserves.
Together with the glut of this energy resource, the rot has set in. The
economic downturn in the region has played a cruel trick on both
the buyer and the seller. PTT now cannot afford to meet the $400
million-a-year contract committed with the Burmese military regime

and faces a huge fine if its contractual agreements are not met. And
SPDC s hopes of realising this huge income have been dashed.
The Yadana project has also drawn protests from human rights and
environmental groups in Thailand.
Social critic Sulak Sivaraksa recently told DVB: We have never
agreed with this project, it s a wrong decision by the Thai government.
Why do they want to give money to the Burmese butchers? I will
continue to protest to the end.
Sulak and 40 other activists were arrested in March last year for
allegedly blocking construction of the pipeline in Kanchanaburi
where he had been staging a solo protest in Huay Khayaeng
forest.
39
They claim the pipeline runs through the region s most pristine
forests, home to rare flora and fauna. Human rights advocates have
also refused to support the project on the grounds revenue from
the investment will be used to buy arms to suppress the democratic
groups in Burma.
Sulak is now facing a lawsuit brought by PTT for obstructing the
construction of the pipeline. On the other side of the border, one
of the biggest problems is security. How effectively can the SPDC
troops guard the pipeline? said a Burmese democracy activist.
There are no guarantees in the jungle. The pipeline and construction
compound have been attacked three times and the military bases
about 15 times in the past, killing about 50 soldiers. At least five
workers, including a French national from Total, were reported killed
and 11 injured during these raids by forces fighting the Burmese
government.
We believe there will be no development without local stability. If
they want to do business, they must solve the armed crisis with the
KNU as a first step, said Padoe Kwal Htoo, chairman of KNU 4th
Brigade Area, which is believed to have mounted the attacks.
But general Bo Mya, the KNU president, insisted that his forces have
no plans to attack the pipeline as they are not terrorists. Instead the
KNU wants to solve the problem by holding talks with the SPDC, Thai
officials and the oil companies. However, there have been frequent
clashes between government troops and the multiple armed rebel
groups deployed along the pipeline.
It is almost impossible for the SPDC to have complete control over
the area, said a former Karen major who is a demolition expert.
There are many armed factions and they can go wherever they want
to and whenever they wish to.
Last month, a Unocal official denied a Bangkok Post report that its
firm and Total had provided financial backing for Burmese military
activities to protect the Yadana pipeline and to suppress Burmese
minorities near the border.
The story is baseless. There is no unusual activity in the pipeline
htet aung Kyaw
40
area. We are certainly not a party to financing anyone s military
activity, the official said.
However, sources inside Burma insist that financial aid to the
Burmese military from the oil firms is a fact.
It was alleged that last July, Total contributed five million kyat to
the army s fund for each of the 12 battalions guarding the pipeline
and the battalion commanders given 4-wheel drive vehicles and
petrol. In addition, a fund of 400 kyat a day for each porter was
provided by the firm as requested by IB 373 and 282 commanders.
And at times Total s helicopters and trucks are used to transport
food and ammunition for the same two battalions from Kanbauk
to Nat I-Taung.
Padoe Thaw Thi, a spokesman for the KNU 4th Brigade Area said:
This Bangkok Post report must be true because we have similar
information.
In the meantime, plans are afoot between Burma and Thailand to
promote border trade and tourism in the area whereby a road would
cut through Kalai-aung village to take tourists to southern Burma s
famous Maung-magan beach.
Total, it seems, is not very excited with the idea as it could jeopardise
the safety of the pipeline. People like U Pha Su, however, are hoping
all the troubles and unrest would soon go away so they can resume
trading.
41
the end of tolerance
Published in The Irrawaddy in February 2000
Dissidents are clinging to their commitment to non-violence, but
they may be losing their grip.
The Ratchaburi hospital crisis is over but many questions remain.
One is why ten gunmen from God s Army stormed a Thai hospital
in the first place. Many Thai people lack sufficient knowledge about
Burma to understand this case. They are, of course, still angry at the
hostage-takers for endangering the lives of patients and medical
staff.
But the Thai media and academics are more aware of the issues
surrounding the case. I understand why they came here. I don t like
to just say that those people are bad. They have suffered life-long
repression from the Burmese military. They have no way out, and
came here to do something, commented Pornpimol Trichot, a well-
known researcher from the Asian Studies Institute at Chulalongkorn
University.
The bus driver whose bus was hijacked from Ban Tagolan recalled,
They commanded me to drive to Bangkok. But when they saw the
hospital, they said to stop. I thought that they had no plan.
In fact, the Thai army was heavily shelling the God s Army base at
Kamaplaw while the SPDC troops were trying to occupy it. They
shelled Kamaplaw after four [Thai] soldiers were killed by a God s
Army landmine on 18 January, confirmed a leader of the volunteer
guard in Ban Phar Pok, the closest village to Kamaplaw. [The rebels ]
only choice was which way to die sitting under the shelling or doing
something before they died. They chose the second way.
However, it is not the first time Burmese activists have resorted
to such tactics. Similar incidents have occurred on three other
occasions.
htet aung Kyaw
42
In 1989, two Burmese students, Ye Yint and Ye Thiha, hijacked a
Burmese domestic plane from the southern Burma town of Mergui
to Bangkok with a fake bomb. In 1991, Ye Yint and Ye Marm hijacked
a Thai plane from Bangkok to New Delhi. But in October 1999,
dissidents did not use a fake bomb. They came heavily armed to the
Burmese embassy in Bangkok. They planned to kill ambassador Hla
Maung, who is close to the junta s powerful general Khin Nyunt.
A decade is long enough to wait. We must change our strategy,
declared Jonny, leader of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors,
in a telephone interview during the embassy siege. The time has
come to shoot to the forehead of the key general.
Jonny explained that he had taken part in peaceful protests in front
of the Burmese embassy in the past, and had also been a member of
the All Burma Students Democratic Front. Now that 11 years have
passed, he said that demonstrations and fighting against normal
soldiers on the front line are meaningless. The world community s
pressure is just talking. It will never be like Kosovo or East Timor,
said Jonny.
Nearly four months later, they came again to Thai soil to do something
to attract the attention of the world community to their country s
political crisis. But this time, the Thai response was very severe. All
ten gunmen in the Ratchaburi hospital siege lost their lives.
[The crackdown on Burmese dissidents] is not a real resolution, just
a temporary one. If we cannot send them back to their own country, it
will happen again. We must think how we can help to solve Burma s
crisis, observed Pornpimol, who is studying the situation of Burmese
minorities in depth, especially the cease-fire process between the
ethnic groups and the ruling junta over the last decade.
Ye Thiha, the mastermind of the Mergui hijacking, said, I support
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi s non-violent means. It is the best option
for our country. But we do not want to sit and wait in order to see
change. We want to do something significant which will catch the
world s attention. This was in a letter to Htun Aung Kyaw, former
chairman of the ABSDF, on the Burma-net computer network. Thai
police have been searching for Ye Thiha in Bangkok.
43
Accused of masterminding two recent hostage-taking dramas in
Thailand, San Naing has been in hiding since last October. Here,
people talk about revolution as a seasonal job. It is very hard to find
a person who has a long-term commitment. I see there are a lot of
meetings, conferences and publishing newsletters. It is not a real
revolution.
However, the leading figure of the Burmese democracy moment,
Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, rejected the methods used
by the hostage-takers. There is only one path to reach democracy,
and that is each group must talk at the negotiation table without a
gun, she said. Other armed groups have also distanced themselves
from the actions of rebels who have resorted to violence on Thai
soil.
But while official policy and Thai pressure may prevent rebel leaders
from aligning themselves with radical elements, some rank-and-file
members of border-based groups have expressed more sympathy
with those who have sacrificed their lives for the cause.
After 11 years with no progress in Burma, many activists are finding
it difficult to believe in the non-violent way and cannot tolerate
the ongoing situation. Their problem is not only an internal affair
but also a serious concern for the whole Southeast Asian region,
particularly Thailand.
There are one million Burmese immigrant workers, over 100,000
refugees and several thousand students and dissidents in Thailand.
The Thai authorities cannot deport all of them back to Burma and
they cannot close the whole 2400-kilometre border with Burma. The
best solution to this problem may be for Thailand to take a more
active role in mediating an end to Burma s internal conflicts, both
between the junta and the democratic opposition and Rangoon and
ethnic rebels.
Chulalongkorn s Pornpimol urged the Thai government to take a
more pro-active stance. If [the Thai government] cannot solve every
problem at this time, they must choose some burning issue, such as
minorities, Burmese students, refugees or immigrant workers as the
first step, said the researcher.
htet aung Kyaw
44
If the Thai government continues to avoid involvement in Burma s
internal affairs , it may find it increasingly difficult to contain
threats to its own security.
45
Burmese army trapped by its
turbulent history
Published in The Nation on 30 March 2000
Burma s Tatmadaw, or armed forces, facing an increasing number
of desertions and a lack of direction, badly needs to change its image
for the better.
On 27 March 1945, general Aung San, the commander of the Burma
Independence Army (BIA) and the chairman of the Anti-Fascist
Organisation (AFO), declared zero hour to the Japanese in Rangoon
and called on the people to find and attack the nearest enemy .
In Burma, 27 March became known as Anti-Fascist Revolution Day .
This year is the 55th anniversary of that day. But the Burmese junta
has announced that the day will henceforth be known as Tatmadaw
Day. The re-naming of the anniversary is very controversial, because
it overstates the Tatmadaw s role in the Burma revolution.
According to Dr Aung Khin, a Burmese history professor in London,
The BIA was founded on 26 December 1941 in Bangkok . Earlier
that year, 30 young Burmese rebels (later to become known as the
legendary 30 comrades) had secretly left Burma to travel to Hainan
Island in southern China, which was then controlled by Japanese
troops. The Japanese army gave them military training for five
months, to enable them to fight the British in Burma. They then
traveled to Bangkok where they founded the BIA, before returning
to Burma.
Why does the junta say now that Revolution Day is Tatmadaw
Day? It s a lie about history, the professor continued in his radio
articles broadcast on the Democratic Voice of Burma.
In fact, the Tatmadaw s role was not important in the revolution era
because it had so few members. The AFO and the Communist Party
of Burma (CPB) were more important than the Tatmadaw because
htet aung Kyaw
46
they could organise the people to rebel against the fascists. It was
really a people s revolution , not just the Tatmadaw s offensive.
Later on, several of the 30 comrades joined the CPB and began a
civil war. After half a century, the Tatmadaw said: We have rescued
the country from falling into the hell-holes of fascism, colonialism,
communism and federalism . Then they hammered into the people s
mind that the Tatmadaw is not composed of just normal civil servants
but is above the state. Everyone must obey its commands without
any complaint.
But the All Burma Students Democratic Front claims nearly 100,000
soldiers have deserted during the past 12 years. They are facing a
shortage of food and medicine. And there are many problems among
the officers, soldiers and the Military Intelligence Service (MIS).
A few months ago, the National Council for the Union of Burma
founded a rehabilitation centre in Karen state to welcome the ex-
soldiers. Monthly, about 50 soldiers join us in the Karen National
Union (KNU) controlled area said U Maung Maung Tate, a member
of the centre. This is just in Karen state. Many other deserters have
gone to Thailand as illegal workers and some have joined other rebel
groups along the border.
Last year, the Rangoon War Office ordered all frontline battalions
to grow vegetables and raise livestock, as rations would be reduced.
From then on, frontline troops took whatever they wanted from
the villagers. Many villagers were forced to work on the army s new
projects. Some soldiers were disappointed about the order and its
consequences for villagers. There were more desertions.
Why do people join the Tatmadaw even through it has many
problems? a reporter asked some ex-Tatmadaw men. One of the
defectors, Maung Aung Kyaw Thein, a 19 year old from a training
camp for new recruits in Wetgali, answered: I was arrested in
Mae Sot by Thai police as an illegal worker. Then they sent to me
Myawaddy. On 3 March 1998, I was arrested again by [Light Infantry
Battalion] 32 in Myawaddy. They sent to me Wetgali Training School
via Moulmein soldiers conscription camp. After 10 days training,
I fled here.
47
Another question is, why do graduates join the Tatmadaw? Myint
Wai, a defector from the Burma Air Force, left the army to join
the 8888 uprising with another 1,000 soldiers. He commented:
Once, before the 8888 uprising, students were keen to become
young Tatmadaw officers. It was a popular choice because it was an
opportunity for a job and a guaranteed future.
Now he is working for a human rights NGO in Thailand. He compared
the Thai army and Burma s Tatmadaw, saying: Their pasts are not
too different. Both armies have staged coups. But today, the Thai
army is obeying the civilian government, while our Tatmadaw is
denying the legitimacy of the elected government.
Another important point is their budgets. The Thai army has full
facilities while the Tatmadaw men are very poor. The lowest Thai
private s salary is 4,000 baht while his Burmese counterpart receives
850 kyat (85 baht). That s why the Burmese Tatmadaw rob villagers
to support their families. There is no civil war in Thailand, so the
army budget is enough for them.
When general Than Shwe, chairman of the junta, visited Bangkok in
early March last year, it was suggested that he learn from the Thai
army. But the problem is that the Burmese generals never respect
the Thais because in their minds, the Thais are Nhe-Naing (those
beaten from youth). Instead, they have looked to and tried to emulate
the Indonesian army as it was before the fall of Suharto s empire.
They want an Indonesian-style parliament with an ex-soldier as
president in Burma.
However, the Indonesian army is less willing now to be the tool of a
dictator, and has moved towards supporting democracy. This has left
the Burmese Tatmadaw in a dilemma, as its role model has changed.
Many observers believe that there are two different groups in the
Tatmadaw the MIS and the frontline troops. The first secretary
of the State Peace and Development Council, lieutenant-general
Khin Nyunt, controls the intelligence service, while the council s
vice chairman, general Maung Aye, commands the frontline troops.
Observers have suggested that Khin Nyunt now wants to change
the image of the Tatmadaw. For example, his intelligence service
has negotiated ceasefires with 15 ethnic armed groups during the
htet aung Kyaw
48
past 10 years.
The MIS s next negotiation will be with Aung San Suu Kyi s National
League for Democracy. But Maung Aye s group does not agree with
such negotiations. His group wants to fully control the country
forever.
49
From two-way talks to three-
way?
Published in The Nation on 21 April 2001
After six months of secret talks in Rangoon between the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the National League
for Democracy (NLD), two opinions are now widely voiced. The first
is that the results of the meetings should be immediately declared,
while the second is that ethnic representatives should be included
in a three-way dialogue.
In March, six ethnic armed groups who have signed ceasefire
agreements with the ruling junta over the last decade demanded
to be involved in the talks. They sent their demand in a letter to
lieutenant-general Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the SPDC and
military intelligence chief, who is in charge of the ceasefire process.
The groups were the Shan State Peace Council, the New Mon State
Party, the Karenni People s Liberation Front, the Shan People s
Liberation Front, the Kayan New State Party and Palong State
Liberation Party.
At the same time, the National Council of Union of Burma -the
umbrella group of all dissidents in exile which includes MPs from
the 1990 election, armed ethnic armies of the National United Front
and student-youth organisations -demanded the latest results of
the talks be immediately announced. They stated: This discussion
is for the whole country, not only for two parties. If there is a delay
in declaring results, the people s confidence in the meetings will
become weaker.
However, there has been no reply from the SPDC or the NLD.
I have no message for you media! shouted an NLD executive
member in a phone interview. He reportedly meets Aung San Suu
Kyi twice a week.
htet aung Kyaw
50
On 26 March, lieutenant-general Khin Nyunt met representatives
of the six ceasefire groups at the Office of Strategic Studies (OSS)
in Rangoon. They discussed matters relating to the further
strengthening of Union Spirit, said the junta s information sheet.
But a source from the ceasefire groups said: Khin Nyunt warned
them to stay silent. It is too early to join in the current dialogue.
On 9 April, Khin Nyunt and his OSS officials visited Kachin State,
along the China-Burma border where most ceasefire groups are
based. U La Mo Tu Jai, the new chairman of the Kachin Independence
Organisation (KIO), and officers from several other groups which
mutinied against the Communist Party of Burma during the last
decade shook hands with the delegation. At the ceremony for the
tenth anniversary of the ceasefire deal, Khin Nyunt gave a speech
along similar lines -it was still too early to join in the current
dialogue .
However, a senior official from the KIO claimed most members
were no longer content with the government s promises. We need
a political settlement, not just a ceasefire, he said. He confirmed
that KIO leaders were pressured by junior officers and community
leaders to replace the chairman who signed the ceasefire agreement
in 1993.
We absolutely support the current dialogue. We also hope that both
sides are honest, the KIO official said. At the same time, we have
the same idea as all other ethnic organisations, that is to be involved
in future dialogues.
Obviously, all political and ethnic groups are facing a crisis on how to
comment on the secret talks. They welcome the talks, but they worry
about what is happening during them. Some analysts suspect the
SPDC is using the secret talks to escape from international pressure,
particularly International Labour Organisation sanctions.
Since United Nations (UN) special envoy for Burma Razali Ismail
announced the news, the ILO and all pressure groups have delaying
their procedures against Burma. Moreover, the Japanese government
decided to give Overseas Development Aid to the SPDC, which has
been on hold since the 1988 massacre.
51
Last week, a statement from the Karen National Union condemned
the junta for using the talks in a propaganda war. The junta is
trying to destroy Suu Kyi s will in this way, it said. All resistance
groups and the international community must be clear on the SPDC s
psychological warfare.
However, many organisations are still hoping that an official joint
statement from the SPDC and the NLD will come out on 27 May,
the eleventh anniversary of the 1990 election. But they also hoped
for an announcement on 27 March, Armed Forces Day, and nothing
came out.
htet aung Kyaw
52
part three | cry freedom: from BomBsite to weBsite
53
htet aung Kyaw
54
55
Part three:
Cry Freedom: From bombsite
to website
htet aung Kyaw
56
Cry Freedom on the air
Published in The Bangkok Post on 29 November 1998
From bombsites to websites, the struggle for democracy in Burma
discovers modern communications technology.
As the witching hour approaches, the cries of the cicadas are not the
only sounds that shatter the silence of the forest on the northern
Thai-Burmese border. There is also the crackling of shortwave radio
traffic as Burmese dissidents tune in to foreign broadcasts.
In a thatched hut a group of young Burmese refugees is busy trying
to find a clear frequency for a foreign station broadcasting news
about political developments in the country.
On an important day like this, the airwaves are never clear, says
one with disappointment.
This is a family camp of the All Burma Students Democratic Front
(ABSDF). They are trying to tune into the Democratic Voice of
Burma (DVB), their own radio station, based in Oslo and financed
by Norway. Most of the programmes are recorded in their jungle
studio shack and powered by a generator.
There are four foreign-based radio stations supporting the Burmese
democracy movement and supported by government agencies.
Recent additions are DVB, which began in 1992, and Radio Free
Asia (RFA) in 1997.
The others are the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and
Voice of America (VOA).
While the BBC and VOA are considered veterans of informing the
people of developments in the country, especially after the 1988
popular uprising, the newcomers in the war of the airwaves are said
to be most popular with listeners in Burma.
The BBC and its American counterpart broadcasts news on both
57
Burmese and international affairs, while RFA concentrates on the
Asian region. DVB, meanwhile, focuses on Burma alone, and has
become a favourite.
There is a fierce war of words raging on the air between the
opposition and the Burmese military, says a field reporter for
DVB. Deprived of other forms of communication such as television,
e-mail, phone or fax, people living in the districts and border areas
have only the short-wave radio to rely on for news from the outside
world apart from the propaganda from the Burmese military regime
on Myanmah A-than (The Voice of Myanmar).
After a decade of armed warfare, the ABSDF has switched tactics to
launching a full-fledged media blitz against the central government
via the internet and print and broadcast media.
However, there still exists a formidable number engaged in
armed warfare fighting alongside the troops of the Karen National
Union.
Students who have traded in their weapons in return for mounting
a peaceful political offensive are now disseminating information via
Burmanet, DVB, RFA and the New Era Journal, a monthly tabloid
which is published in Burmese and English.
One of them is Aung Kyaw, a 32-year-old an art student. Broadcast
journalism has always been his dream ever since he listened
to Christopher Gunnes, the BBC correspondent who reported
intensively on Burma before, during and after 1988.
However, the life of a broadcast journalist, like those in other forms
of dissident media is a tough one because of their illegal existence
in Thailand.
There have been frequent arrests of these political activists by the
authorities. At times they have to take risks travelling to border areas
to gather information where modern electronic communication
does not exist.
Though information in the form of news bulletins, newspapers and
magazines is smuggled into the country from time to time, the risks
htet aung Kyaw
58
are enormous and the penalties heavy for both the courier and the
recipients.
The usual penalty is seven years in jail.
This being the case, short-wave radios are now among the most
sought-after commodities in Burma.
The military government is said to keep tabs on households tuning
into foreign broadcasts, as well as jamming these stations when the
opportunity rises. Soldiers have been ordered not to listen to them.
However, unlike readers of the print media, it is much more difficult
to catch listeners red-handed.
Not to be outdone by the relentless assault of the young students of
1988 on the regime, the Rangoon government is now also exploiting
modern communication technologies to counter the offensive.
The State Peace and Development Council now has its own website,
and has opened a University of Computer Studies for Upper
Myanmar (Burma). And coming to its aid is the government of
Singapore, Burma s largest trading partner, not to mention the
Japanese, who recently held a meeting called the Myanmar-Japan
Bilateral Conference on Information Technology.
Unlike the spontaneous uprising of 1988, the August demonstrations
by students in Burma this year to commemorate the event s
anniversary are the result of the media campaign by the democracy
movement overseas.
This has created a new scenario in the fight for restoration of freedom
in Burma from the sword to the pen. A war of words has begun
and it has the regime shaking in its boots. It only understands the
language of brute force and intimidation in running a country of 45
million people.
59
Muzzled media pursue goal
Published in The Nation on 9 August 1999
During the height of the Kosovo War, US-led NATO aircraft bombed
a Serb television station in Belgrade, resulting in the deaths of 12
media workers. Many journalists condemned this as outrageous act.
In Bangkok, for example, a group of Thai journalists sent a protest
letter to the US Embassy. But their counterparts in the Burmese
dissident movement who work for the opposition radio, Democratic
Voice of Burma (DVB) in Oslo, Norway, supported NATO s targeting
of the Serbian media.
We agreed with NATO because they were not real journalists.
They are just working as propagandists for the Serb military, just
as journalists in Burma do. Burmese journalists were trained by
the psychological warfare department of the Military Intelligence
Service (MIS), complained an editor at DVB.
But who qualify as real journalists? Maung Tha Ya, 69, the best
selling Burmese writer who recently fled to Thai-Burma border,

recently made this comment on DVB: Real journalists only focus
on real facts, not just what is on paper. Realism involves writing the
truth, and not following the propaganda of the authorities.
Maung Tha Ya fled from his Rangoon home to Mae Sot - a difficult
800-kilometre journey -despite his age and a history of heart attacks.
This is because he was ordered not to write any more articles.
Last month, the MIS officer on the censorship board gave me the
final warning. The permission for my own Tha-ya magazine had
already been withdrawn since 1989. As a professional writer, how
can I live without writing? If I delayed leaving home, I would have
been arrested like Win Tin, he added.
Win Tin is a prominent Burmese editor who has been in Insein prison
since 1989 for joining Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi s party. There
are seven journalists in the country s jails, and Burma is one of the
htet aung Kyaw
60
world s most repressive countries where journalists are concerned,
according to a report by Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres.
The country s media has collapsed. Everything is controlled by MIS.
There are just two areas to write about, either pop music and fashion
or propaganda for the MIS s own state-run media, explained Maung
Tha Ya. In recent months, the MIS has ordered that every journal
must print an article from them. If not, the journal will be denied
permission to continue publishing.
Maung Tha Ya was also not allowed to accept invitations from
Japan and Thailand for journalism seminars. This is because the
junta worries that journalists would talk about the suppression of
the media in Rangoon.
Moreover, salaries earned by the journalists are extremely low, much
like the level of manual workers. A recent report in a Rangoon-base
magazine said: [The publishers] pay just 1000 kyat per article
while a meal is 200 kyat each. No journalists can live without an
extra job.
Still, what constitutes free media is very much hotly debated by
dissident Burmese journalists. One question is: free media for
whom?
We did not choose to report on our radio about disunity in
opposition groups. We only reported the military regime s weak
points, lamented a border-based reporter for DVB during a media
training workshop. Some 15 young journalists were trained by
Western professional media teachers at the workshop, and the free
media debate was a focal point, pitting Western journalists against
their Burmese counterparts.
Aung Zaw, a Burmese exiled journalist who attended the training,
said: We must report any news which is of interest to the people. I
report all news, even when I know it will have a bad side effect on pro-
democracy groups. Aung Zaw is one of the few Burmese journalists
in exile who decided not to join any political organisation.
Another Burmese radio journalist from the BBC explained that the
Burmese on both sides do not understand the role of the media. He
61
said, The SPDC did not issue a visa to me because I have interviewed
general Bo Mya in Manaplaw. On the other hand, the border groups
are suspicious of me because I have interviewed general Khin Nyunt
in Rangoon.
There are more than a dozen publications in the border area and they
have to be smuggled into central Burma. It is clearly a risky business.
Anyone arrested with these papers in their possession will receive
seven years in jail. Radio journalists, however, are having a relatively
easy time. And their audiences in Burma are growing.
A recent report in Dana, a business magazine in Rangoon, said: A
Chinese made pocket-sized shortwave radio has become the top-
seller in Rangoon markets, priced at 2,400 kyat.
Apparently, the people s interest in foreign-based Burmese radio
stations is increasing as the 9999 date (9 September 1999) draws
closer.
During the 8888 movement 11 years ago, BBC gave wide coverage
of the uprising. Today, there are two more broadcasting stations
which support the democracy movement the Oslo-based DVB,
which went on air in 1992, and the Washington-based Radio Free
Asia, which began its broadcast in 1997. Meanwhile, Khin Nyunt,
the chief of the MIS and a powerful leader in the ruling junta,
lambasted the neo-colonialists and axe-holders who work for
foreign-based radio. They are not inciting people to protest on 9
September, he said.
They are just obeying their Western masterminds who want
to destroy this country like the former Yugoslavia, he added.
Khin Nyunt has alerted officials to watch for any unrest come
September.
Is it a time for a battle of words on free media? No doubt, there is
a growing media campaign being fought by both sides the ruling
junta and the opposition. Will this be the skirmish that may precede
the final battle in Rangoon?
htet aung Kyaw
62
Meeting with old foes
As an activist and rebel turned professional journalist, my encounters
with Burmese government officials were very emotional as well as
exciting.
The first Burmese official I met as a journalist was foreign minister
U Win Aung at an annual meeting of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bangkok in 2000. U Win Aung is now
in jail after his boss, the then prime minister general Khin Nyunt,
was arrested in 2004. I tried to approach him along with two
other Burmese reporters one from the BBC and Aung Zaw of the
Irrawaddy as he ran from the media after speaking on the stage.
I wonder if they want me to speak to them in English, he said in
Burmese to the BBC reporter whom he knew from some years ago.
He thought that Aung Zaw and I were Thai. When we answered him
in Burmese, he just said, Okay, everything is okay in Burma, before
setting off for the lift to his room.
I was very proud that I got a chance to speak to the junta s foreign
minister face to face, but I was disappointed that I didn t get a
soundbite I could use in a radio report. However, this was my first
lesson in how to catch up with officials and get them to speak to
the media.
My second meeting was with Colonel Kyaw Thein, who was the senior
intelligence official for ethnic and drug affairs. He is also now in
jail, having shared the karma of Win Aung. I met him at the United
Nations annual drugs seminar in Bangkok. He was very professional
when speaking to the media, and a very different type of person from
U Win Aung and other ministers who run away from the media.
In fact, he was just a member of the Burmese delegation led by
brigadier-general Thura Myint Maung, deputy minister for home
affairs. When I asked Myint Maung questions, his answers were
very similar to those of Win Aung giving nothing away, just saying
that everything was okay in Burma and spouting the propaganda
phrases which we saw every day in state-owned papers. Please
63
read our research paper. We guarantee the Wa region will become
a drug-free zone soon, he replied, handing me a dozen papers as a
way of putting an end to my questions.
Kyaw Thein, on the other hand, answered all my questions except
those relating to the KNU and SPDC, which he said were not linked to
the subject of the seminar. He told me the location of drugs kingpin
Khun Sa, who has since died, and talked about the relationship
between the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Shan State Army
(SSA), Thai army and Burmese troops and their field operations in
the area.
He even shook my hand even though he knew that I was a rebel. I
welcome everyone from the media. The only thing I ask is that you
do not distort my answers, but air them in full, he said to me after
the 30-minute interview.
However, brigadier-general Kyaw Than, leader of the Burmese army
delegation to the ASEAN army chiefs meeting at Hua Hin beach
and Prumburi army base, had a very different approach. Tell that
DVB fugitive guy not to approach me or I will shoot him, he told the
BBC reporter in Burmese the same woman with whom we met U
Win Aung earlier. I was standing right beside him at the time but he
thought I was a Thai reporter. He spoke while preparing his pistol
for the ASEAN army chiefs shooting competition on the Prumburi
army base firing range. So I did not have the opportunity to interview
him or the 50-strong military delegation who attended the ASEAN
parade and shooting competition.
As well as army and government officials, I also met a former enemy
of a different kind from my time at university. Tekatho Phone Naing
was a well-known writer and also the dean of Moulmein University
during the 1988 uprising. I still remember him giving me two
warnings during the demonetizations crisis in September 1987 and
the Phone Maw case in March in 1988 after I led the other students,
particularly those from Tenasserim division, in a noisy protest in
the university compound.
After we shouted anti-government slogans, he closed down the
school and all the students who came from other divisions left the
htet aung Kyaw
64
university and returned home by car, train or boat. But about 200
of us from Tavoy, Mergui and Kawthaung had to wait until the
aeroplanes or coastal ships were available as there was no other way
for us to get home. During these three or four days with nothing to
do, we shouted anti-government slogans, loudly sang popular songs
and threw stones at our dormitories. As a result, four other students
and I, who were believed to be leading the unrest, were summoned
to his room.
You students must respect the school rules. Otherwise you will be
expelled, he warned us. As is usual in Burmese culture, we never
made a formal complaint to him but mutinied behind his back.
Twelve years after that incident, he was in front of me again at a Thai-
Burma cultural seminar in Bangkok s Chulalongkorn University.
However, this time our relationship was not that of student and
teacher but of reporter and academic. He was a member of the
Burmese delegation led by director Kyi Soe Tun, writer Chit Oo Nyo
and dozens of artists. They showed the historical film Thut Kyun Ma
Khan Pyi , about the fight against British colonisation 100 years ago,
scripted by Tekatho Phone Naing. For their part, the Thais showed
Suriyathai , about the fight against Burmese colonisation 400 years
ago. It was just after the Ratchaburi hospital hostage crisis and the
siege at the Burmese embassy of Bangkok.
After the show, many Burmese in the audience, including the BBC
reporter, paid their respects to Tekatho Phone Naing by prostrating
themselves before him, as a sign of respect to him, not only as a writer
but also as an elderly man. I was in a dilemma. If I paid respects
to him I felt it would be like admitting that what I had done in my
university days was wrong. If I did not pay respects to him it would
make me seem very discourteous in the eyes of the other Burmese
at the event.
So I decided to leave the room while the other Burmese were paying
respects to him. But the dilemma was of my own making because
he did not recognise me as his former student.
Should I have explained to him who I was? Should I have paid my
respects to him as an older person and a respected writer?
65
Yes, now I believe that I should have set politics aside and paid
respect to him as a former student. Unfortunately, it is too late to
take back my decision because he passed away in 2006.
At gunpoint back on the border:
Meeting God s Army
In January 2001, at the Suan Plung army camp in Ratchaburi where

the God s Army, a guerrilla group led by young twins Luther and
Johnny Htoo, had just surrendered, I found myself at gunpoint for
the third time since going underground in 1988.
Although this would be the first time I met the twins in person, I
had been hearing about their strange activities in the jungle since
early 1997. When SPDC troops attacked our Minthamee camp,
many ABSDF and KNU members and their families went to Htam
Hin refugee camp. There we heard stories about the mysterious 12year-
old cheroot-smoking twin boys who led the God s Army against
Burmese forces in Maw Hta camp, just below Minthamee.
Both boys had black-tinged tongues, which is taken by ethnic Karen
and Mon to be a sign of divinity. The twins were adored in the same
way as the Buddhist boy lamas, but had far greater power. According
to some KNU and ABSDF soldiers who met them in Mawhta and
Kamaplaw, the twins had magical powers and were immune to
gunfire. The legend that built up around the twins attracted a
great deal of attention, and many former KNU soldiers joined their
forces.
In 1998, the God s Army set up a base in Kamalaw, a jungle camp
opposite Ban Tagolan in Suan Plung township. In early 1999, dozens
of rebels from the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, a group
founded in Maneloy student centre in Ratchburi whose leader was
known as Jonny, joined the God s Army in Kamaplaw. But relations
between the two groups were not always smooth, according to KNU
officials.
It was a sunny morning in January 2001 when I arrived at the BBC s
htet aung Kyaw
66
Bangkok office. I had made plans with Ko Ko Aung, a BBC Burmese
journalist, to go Suan Plung where the God s Army had surrendered.
Unfortunately, the minivan we had hired did not turn up so we went
out onto the street and hailed a meter taxi. The driver was very
talkative and we got into a conversation about Burmese politics
and our work as journalists. During the three-hour drive to Suan
Plung, I told him about how I had managed to get an interview with
Jonny, leader of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors who seized
the Burmese embassy in Bangkok in 1999 and we talked about the
Ratchaburi hospital hostage-taking in early 2000 by God s Army.
When we reached special border police unit compound in Suan
Plung, I saw that there were many journalists busy with live reports.
Just before the arrival of Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and
army chief general Surayud Julanont, we were approached by some
soldiers who asked us to go and speak to their commander. I told the
soldiers that I was not interested as I was waiting for the arrival of
the prime minister and the press conference. But the soldiers were
insistent. You must follow us, one of them said. The commander
wants to ask you some questions.
We were very surprised and many journalists stared at us as the
soldiers took us away to a checkpoint manned by heavily-armed
soldiers. The commander asked me, Are you Burmese? Are
you just a journalist or are you linked with insurgent groups?
When they asked to see our identity cards, I had nothing to show
them except my fake passport, while my companion Ko Ko Aung
showed his BBC journalist card. After checking the documents, the
commander told the BBC s Ko Ko Aung, You can go but leave him .
I was worried for my safety and sweating profusely. But after more
than a decade of similar experiences on Thai soil, I knew better than
to show any sign of fear on my face. I shouted back at the commander,
This is not a border check point, why are you asking me for my
passport? I keep it in Bangkok .
He did not accept my excuse and asked for my office address and
phone number. As I was living illegally in Thailand, I could not give
the number or address of my office in Bangkok. My office isn t
in Bangkok, it s in Oslo, I told the commander. Please ring this
number if you don t believe me. He rang the Oslo office but it was
67
early morning in Europe and there was no answer.
Fortunately, a minivan pulled up in front of the checkpoint and
I recognised Don Pathan of the Nation newspaper among the
journalists inside. I called out to him in a loud voice and told him
that the army had arrested me for no reason. He approached the
commander and they spoke in Thai for quite a while. Later, the
commander denied that he had arrested me and said he had just
been questioning us because we were Burmese.
The commander let me go to the press conference but a heavily-
armed man followed my every move. I had the chance to ask
questions to Prime Minister Chuan and army chief Surayud but not
to the God s Army twins. When I tried to get closer to the twins, the
man who was following me blocked my path. Why are the soldiers
more worried about the twins security rather than that of their boss
or the prime minister? I asked myself.
When I saw the twins at the press conference it was clear they were
no more than children and it was very hard to believe that they were
the commanders of hundreds of armed troops. Johnny Htoo was
holding a football while Luther was talking to a friend. During the
press conference the prime minister told us, They are not terrorists.
They are just kids and they should stay with their mom and they
should be going to school.
The Thai authorities would later allow them to stay at Ban Tonyam
refugee camp near Sangkhlaburi. In 2006, Johnny Htoo returned
to Burma with some former KNU soldiers and is now living in Mitta
village, Tavoy. Luther Htoo and his family are still in the camp
waiting for resettlement to a third country.
As I headed back to the taxi after the press conference, I saw the
commander who had arrested me before the press conference waiting
for me. Sorry for mistreating you, he said with a mysterious smile.
Please don t use a meter taxi next time, take your company car or
van. Good luck, he said, and walked away.
I was still confused and as we made our way back from Suan Plung
to Bangkok I asked the driver what the commander had meant. He
laughed loudly at the question. Did you see any other meter taxis
htet aung Kyaw
68
there? he asked. That s why they were suspicious of you.
The driver explained to us that the soldiers had asked him who had
hired his taxi to the restricted military area. Ever talkative, he had
told the soldier all the things he had learned from us, including that
we were Burmese dissidents with good connections to the Vigorous
Burmese Student Warriors, God s Amy and the KNU. That was why
the army had arrested us and I had not been able to reach God s
Army twins. They were worried that I would cause problems with
the twins.
69
Burmese exiles fight over
press freedom
Published in The Nation on 13 November 2000
When the Irrawaddy magazine strongly criticised Burma s
government in exile, there was a sharp reaction among Burmese
in exile. Most of them complained that now was not the right time
for criticism within the movement . All it could do was to benefit
the enemy of the democracy movement , the State Peace and
Development Council.
However, Irrawaddy editor Aung Zaw does not agree. Before, I was
confused and under pressure, he said. But now I m very clear that
people in the struggle must practise real democracy. Media criticism
is the best way for it to be practised. We don t need to wait until the
regime change to do that.
But many activists and politicians in exile are still angry with him.
The guy and his Irrawaddy were born from our 8888 movement.
Why did he criticise us? How independent is he, as a professional
journalist? He received money from funding agencies like us. I never
read his magazine, throw it away, shouted an exiled politician in
Bangkok.
But Aung Zaw retorts: We received funding from agencies, yes,
because we cannot sell the Irrawaddy. But you must be clear that
we are not under the control of funding agencies or anyone else. Our
journalistic ethics are very independent. We are working for people,
not for funding agencies, not for political organisations.
However, the government in exile, the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), was more concerned
about correct facts than with being criticised.
We are not complaining about anything in the free media. We
welcome it. But we are complaining about factual data. He should
htet aung Kyaw
70
have asked us before he wrote. Failing to investigate is not good
journalistic ethics, commented Dr Sein Win, the NCGUB prime
minister.
Some facts are wrong, added Dr Thaung Htun, chief of UN affairs
for the NCGUB. You can check our accounting whenever you
want. NCG is the only organisation that has independent auditors.
People look to us as a government. But we receive funds like other
organisations, not for the whole country. So how can we deliver it
to all? Otherwise, we are speeding up on our diplomatic campaigns.
Now the junta is losing. We are stepping on to victory.
Some activists have a negative view of the NCGUB. I welcome the
comment from the Irrawaddy editorial. Yes, a lot of opportunists are
working under the shadow of NCG as activists and sharing the funds.
These funds are for the democratic movement, but NCG leaders
believe themselves to be real ministers, said Htun Aung Gyaw,
former chairman of the All Burma Students Democratic Front.
I do not think press freedom will come after democracy, because if
there is no opposition in our circle, there will be no improvement,
he added. Without criticism we cannot correct the wrongdoing. If
we do not dare to correct it, we are betraying our struggle. The junta
will be happier if the leading opposition group is insufficient and
crowded with opportunists.
Some Burma-watchers agree with Aung Zaw. The role of the media
is very, very clear, that it should report what it sees, says Yindee
Lertcharoenchok, a journalist and Burma specialist. The opposition
media must also report what it sees. It should not be a tool of
propaganda for the NCG to try to hide mistakes. If it does that, [the
opposition] media is no different from the junta s media.
Another factor is the electronic media, particularly the Burmanet
computer network. Htun Aung Gyaw is one of the regular writers
on the network.
Most of the writers are in conflict with each other, says a Bangkok-
based exiled journalist. This is because they have never lived with a
free media. They have lived for nearly 30 years in a military-controlled
country, and so they do not know how to respond to a free media.
71
They know only what they want to write. However, it is beneficial to
control the opposition leaders ethics and corruption.
Although Burmese exiles have access to free media, inside the country
people cannot even use the Internet. We know a bit through foreign-
based radio, said the editor of a monthly magazine in Rangoon. But
we have no free Internet, and we cannot go to Burmanet or any other
political net. The foreign-based radio stations are the only path for
us to see the outside world.
Recently two monthly magazines were closed for using the name of
general Aung San, the country s independence hero and father of
Aung San Suu Kyi. Military intelligence also ordered them not to
use the names of writers who are members or MPs of the National
League for Democracy. According to the Paris-based press freedom
organisation Reporters Sans Frontieres, Burma is the most media-
suppressed country in the world.
While we have our ears, eyes, mouths and pens closed, we welcome
the fact that you [the exiles] can freely criticise your elected
government, said the Rangoon-based editor.
However, pressure is being put on the free press in exile.
We even face pressure from funding agencies not to criticise the
democracy movement. But we are independent journalists, so we
must do our duty. If they stop funding, we will tell the public why,
Aung Zaw vowed.
A few years ago, many activists complained about censorship policy
to the editor of Burmanet, which is sponsored by the Open Society
Institute, which came about after heavy criticism of leaders of the
All Burma Students Democratic Front in 1997.
The India-based Mizzima news group s editor Soe Myint said: Why
do you deter those who fight? Because you are worried that your
enemy will know your weaknesses? This is not an adequate answer.
So what if they know? Are you worried about dishonesty? We need
freedom of expression to support and strengthen democracy. Free
media and democracy cannot be separated. Without democracy, a
free media cannot exist, and without a free media, democracy cannot
be maintained.
htet aung Kyaw
72
the worst of the worst:
Press freedoms in Burma
Published in The Irrawaddy on 7 November 2002
While governments debate issues of taxation and free speech
concerning the Internet and parents tackle the thorny topic of just
what websites are suitable for their children, Burma s military
government has a 15-year prison sentence awaiting those found
accessing the world wide web without proper permission.
The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) did open up
the country s first intranet cafe earlier this year, where a selected
number of entertainment and non-political sites are available. But
they remain a long way away from allowing the Burmese populace
to use something that most of the world takes for granted.
Thirty journalists who recently gathered in Cardiff, Wales from
countries such as Sierra Leone, Cuba and Burma expressed their
dismay, along with Burmese journalists inside and outside the
country, at the continued heavy-handed censorship in Burma.
A radio journalist from war-torn Sierra Leone appeared almost
shocked to hear about the Burmese situation. I don t understand
why your country has no public internet, said Seneh Thoronka. Our
people are poor but our media is rich. He added that although his
country is continuing to bounce back from a dirty civil war, they have
free access to the internet as well as seven independent newspapers
and eight independent FM radio stations.
Even in my country, you can read every [web] page if you have
enough money, said broadcast journalist Arnoldo Diaz from
Cuba.
Journalists in Southeast Asia say that even in a region where
authoritarian rule is the prevailing style of government, the lack
of access to media outlets in Burma is unparalleled. Abdul Raxak,
73
a senior correspondent from Malaysia s New Strait Times, said,
Most neighbors have free media. Even in my country the internet
is absolutely free.
Malaysia, which continues to be controlled by Mahathir Mohammed,
does not have a reputation for being a bastion of press freedom, but
even there, where other media outlets are under semi-governmental
control, the internet is widely available. One respected online
newspaper is Malaysiakini; however, Mahathir has yet to issue press
cards to online journalists.
A journalist from the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) who visits
Rangoon regularly says Burma s intranet is just another propaganda
tool. It s just for counter attacks to western media, said the BBC
journalist, who requested anonymity. You can check The Myanmar
Times, the New Light of Myanmar and the government web page.
I think it s meaningless.
However, another BBC journalist, formerly a senior staffer at the
New Light of Myanmar, disagrees. You can criticise government
officials but not to our colleagues.
He added that Burma has plenty of well-trained journalists who
have never been given the opportunity to use their skills, due to the
government s strict controls. They have no chance to write their own
views, only what the MI [military intelligence] orders them to.
The Burmese government controls the country s only two television
stations as well as one short wave and one FM radio station. The
government also owns two daily newspapers. Private journalists
run a multitude of weekly and monthly journals, however, all these
must first pass through the country s infamous Press Scrutiny Board
(PSB). The government controlled media usually only show leaders
of the military regime and their speeches, while private journals are
left to run women s photos and astrological predictions.
The former New Light of Myanmar journalist said, I think TV
Myanmar and Radio are the only media in the world that just
read hours of papers without having attractions or reports from
correspondents. He says he blames the government for not trying
to learn what the audience wants to know and for not being in
htet aung Kyaw
74
touch with other international media styles.
The only outlet Burmese residents have to news that is not controlled
by the junta comes from four short wave radio programs that
broadcast daily in Burmese including the London-based BBC
(Burmese Service), the Washington DC-based Radio Free Asia (RFA)
and Voice of America (VOA) as well as the Oslo-based Democratic
Voice of Burma (DVB). The programs are beamed into Burma from
relay towers based in third countries.
I spend five hours a day listening to the transmissions. Because it s
not only a window to see outside but also to see inside the country,
said a veteran Rangoon journalist.
However, some have paid a hefty price for tuning into these illegal
broadcasts. Daw San San, an elected Member of Parliament from the
opposition National League for Democracy, was sentenced to seven
years in prison in 1998 for giving an interview to the BBC.
Than Chaung, a farmer from northern Burma, was sentenced to two
years in prison for listening to a VOA broadcast in 1999.
Leo Nichols, the former de facto consul for Norway and other
Scandinavian countries as well as the godfather of Aung San Suu
Kyi, died in detention under mysterious conditions after he was
sentenced in 1996 to three years in prison for using a fax machine
without permission.
Even now, amidst calls for national reconciliation in Burma, the
regime continues to arrest and detain individuals for possessing
illegal literature. Two men were arrested in September for reading
the New Era Journal, which is published in Bangkok by Burmese
dissidents. They remain in custody, awaiting sentencing.
According to the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), at
least 16 journalists are being detained in Burma. Burma is one of
the countries of the world where the government has used a very
large spectrum of mechanisms and policies to oppress journalists
and suppress freedom of expression, says Vincent Brossel, director
of the Asia-Pacific desk at RSF.
75
As we usually say there is no freedom without press freedom . But
in the case of Burma, we might say there will be no press freedom
without democracy , adds Brossel.
htet aung Kyaw
76
part four | road map: heading to the saffron revoLution
77
Part FOur:
road map: heading to the
Saffron revolution
htet aung Kyaw
78
Problems in Burma need
people power
Published in The Irrawaddy on 19 June 2003
After the 30 May crackdown on Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) in Upper
Burma, the whole world asked the ruling generals to release Aung
San Suu Kyi and resume dialogue.
Even the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which
traditionally refuses to comment on its member countries internal
affairs, openly criticised the regime during its annual meeting
in Phnom Penh. In addition, the US, the EU and other powerful
countries warned that tough sanctions are imminent if the regime
delays the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Lets see whether the Burmese react or not, and we ll determine after
their reaction not just for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi but also
what will they allow her to do or what will they allow her party to do,
and that will determine what our policy will be, said US secretary
of state Colin Powell.
Thus far, there is no sign that Rangoon plans to heed the demands
of the international community. We have listened very carefully to
the concerns raised...and we will take them into consideration, of
course, when the time comes, claimed Win Aung, Burma s foreign
minister. He added that those from the international community
should not make noise about his country.
Analysts point out that foreign pressure alone is not enough to
change the regime in Rangoon. Burmese people power must be
added to the mix. The time is now for a moment of truth. People
in Burma need to do something, says Tin Maung Than, a political
analyst in Washington.
The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) must decide
79
whether to have a dialogue with the opposition. ASEAN and the
US-led Western bloc must decide their stand on Burma as well,
he added.
Aung Naing Oo, a Thai-based political analyst, says that he does
not believe the Burmese people will take to the streets as they did
during the 8888 uprising, even though they are very angry about the
Black Friday events. They are very afraid of authority like never
before, he said.
A female member of parliament from southern Burma, who is a
close friend of Aung San Suu Kyi, disagrees. As for people inside
the country, it s not that we are afraid, said Nan Khin Htwe Myint,
an MP from Pa-an, in a telephone interview with the Democratic
Voice of Burma.
Activists worry that it would be difficult for us to keep on doing our
activities if people started staging mass protests, she said. But, the
MP does warn that the situation in Burma may become too much for
the people to swallow. There are lumps of feelings in everyone, she
said. Nobody is satisfied or happy. We are carrying these undigested
grievances with us and I think one day they will explode.
According to eyewitnesses, about 50 people demonstrated on 5
June in Bassein, the Irrawaddy division capital. They called for the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi and an independent investigation into
the 30 May clash. Six people were arrested. There has been no sign
of protest elsewhere in the country.
Last Saturday, veteran politicians led by Thakhin Thein Pe, who
fought for Burma s independence, held an emergency meeting
and sent an open letter about Black Friday to SPDC chairman
senior-general Than Shwe. The letter asks authorities to allow an
independent organisation to investigate the incident and let the
people of Burma know what really happened in Depayin on 30
May.
Meanwhile, the exiled National Council of the Union of Burma
called for global action today, 19 June, to mark the 58th birthday of
detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Since the crackdown
in Upper Burma, protests have been held outside Burmese embassies
htet aung Kyaw
80
in Bangkok, Delhi, Seoul, Tokyo, Washington and several European
capitals to demand the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and
opposition members.
81
road map to division
Published in The Irrawaddy on 17 November 2003
When UN secretary-general Kofi Annan criticised the Burmese
military s seven-step road map as one-sided, the opposition and
analysts welcomed Annan s critique. But the ruling generals have
shown no desire to respond to his suggestions. This is because the
main alliance of leaders in the region, the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), has already backed Rangoon s road map.
While the US, the European Union and Japan have expressed their
opposition, Burma s most powerful neighbors, China and India, have
offered no comment. China and India have said they want to stay
out of Burma s internal affairs . It certainly illustrates how divisive
the issue has been for the international community.
An assembly to draft a new constitution is the first step on the junta s
road map. But the National Convention, as it is called, is also dividing
opposition and ethnic groups.
Some 17 armed ethnic groups who have signed ceasefires have agreed
to send representatives to the National Convention, but many have
stipulated conditions. Nine ethnic political parties who won the
election in 1990 under the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA) have
rejected the junta s invitation.
Aung San Suu Kyi s National League for Democracy (NLD), which
won 82 percent of the votes in 1990, has had no real opportunity
to respond to the road map. All of the party s leaders are in jail or
under house arrest. And some observers anticipate that many of the
NLD leaders will be kept in custody for the duration of the National
Convention. However, 20 members of parliament (MPs) who were
dismissed from the NLD, and some individual MPs, will be joining
the assembly to draft a new constitution.
Based on the latest information from Rangoon, the military has
invited five representatives from each of the 17 ceasefire groups. An
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82
extra nine people from the country s seven states and seven divisions
have also been ordered to attend. Other representatives will be
drawn from junta-friendly groups like the military s political arm,
the Union Solidarity and Development Association; the women s
organisation chaired by prime minister Khin Nyunt s wife; and a
farmers association led by a retired army general.
According to regulations for the last assembly convened in 1993
which adjourned in 1996 after a NLD boycott 702 delegates must
attend. Last time, only 20 percent of the representatives were MPs
elected in 1990 while the remaining 555 seats went to the junta.
Forty-eight were from political parties, 99 were elected MPs, 212
seats were assigned to ethnic minorities, 93 were farmers, 44 were
workers, 90 were civil servants, 35 were technocrats, 53 were special
guests and 28 were assigned to women s organisations. The junta
hopes the make-up will be similar this time around.
Regulations noted that the assembly could only be convened when
50 percent of delegates attended. Once the NLD and elected MPs
left, the Convention had to be adjourned. Khin Nyunt promised at
the ASEAN summit in Bali that all political forces would be able to
join in the convention this time around. But there has still been no
meeting between the NLD, the UNA and government officials.
Hkun Htun Oo, a UNA spokesman, said Aung San Suu Kyi warned
the junta to talk immediately with the NLD and the UNA when she
met with UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro last week.
The National Convention cannot materialise without the NLD and
the national races, Hkun Htun Oo said. There are still no signs that
the military will release Aung San Suu Kyi or talk to senior NLD
leaders about the National Convention.
However, some MPs in Rangoon predict there will be increasing
confrontation between the NLD and the military in coming weeks. In
this situation, the international community, as well as people inside
the country, needs to unite against the military s divisive plan.
83
China s role in Burma s
national Convention
Published in The Nation on 18 July 2007
Recently, Burma s ruling junta announced that its constitution-
drafting National Convention would reconvene today, and that
this session would be its last -putting a long-awaited end to the
controversial process that began in 1993.
This is the first time the junta has confirmed that it would put an
end to the marathon convention. Moreover, just before a state visit
to China, National Convention chairman lieutenant-general Thein
Sein promised to review previous chapters and make amendments
as necessary to correct their flaws and weaknesses during this
session.
Many parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi s National League for
Democracy (NLD), are now looking for a chance to participate in
the final discussions. We are very interested in that. This is because
we have the desire to cooperate within the National Convention,
said U Thein Nyunt, a spokesperson for NLD National Convention
affairs.
We have stated that the six basic principles, which the National
Convention had set as its objectives, should be considered as issues
for deliberation when drafting the constitution and we said the same
thing for the 104 detailed basic principles also, he added.
But Htang Ko Htam, an ethnic elected MP and a member of the
Committee Representing the People s Parliament (CRPP), which was
founded by the NLD and ethnic parties, gave a different view. This is
just a plot by the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] to lie
again and again, he said. Thein Sein s reviewing means that he will
just change the new capital from Yangon [Rangoon] to Naypyidaw.
There is no hope for political review anyway.
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84
Nai Aung Mange, a spokesperson for the Thai-Burma border based
ceasefire group New Mon State Party (NMSP), expressed a similar
view: We want to know clearly what the National Convention
chairman s words mean before entering the National Convention
compound. Otherwise, we will have no chance to send proper
representatives. NMSP sent only three observers during the last
session after authorities refused some of their proposals.
However, colonel Tu Jar, deputy-chairman of the China-Burma
border based ceasefire group Kachin Independence Army (KIA), felt
otherwise. We understand that the National Convention chairman
will be reviewing all chapters since 1993. We also have to raise some
issues for ethnic affairs, especially in ethnic army controlled areas
which they refused during the last session, he said.
But observers say the KIA and many ceasefire groups along the
China-Burma border have hidden agendas. My understanding is
that the KIA, the UWSA [United Wa Sate Army], the SSAN [Shan
State Army-North] and the Kokant army are now training recruits.
Military strong-minded leaders took back top posts in recent
meetings, says Aung Kyaw Zaw, a defence analyst and a former
top official of Burma s Communist Party, which once controlled the
four ethnic armies.
China might play a key role in the coming National Convention,
he claimed. This is because not only was a rare meeting between
US senior officials and Burmese ministers held recently on Chinese
soil but also some top leaders of those four ethnic armies are now
in Kunming [to talk to Chinese officials] , he explained. Chinese
officials will discuss the National Convention with them as well as
future stability along the border, he said.
Neither colonel Tu Jar nor any other official from the four armies
mentioned would comment on this information. Many observers,
however, believe that China has been playing a key role in Burmese
politics since the country used its veto to stop a United Nations
Security Council resolution on Burma last year. Meanwhile, rumours
in Rangoon have begun to circulate that China has asked the Burmese
generals to talk with the NLD before the National Convention kicks
off.
85
We have not yet reached any agreement on an official meeting,
replied U Thein Nyunt. But we are trying to solve our situation as
best we can. We also hope China might understand our situation.
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86
what s changed in Burma in
the past 19 years?
Published in The Nation on 18 September 2007
Today is the 19th anniversary of the coup that ousted the socialist
regime of U Ne Win and brought the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) to power following the junta s crackdown on the
Four Eights uprising.
But this year, junta members have no cause for celebration as they
are facing nationwide protests calling on them to hand over power
to a civilian government. How much has the country changed after
two decades of struggle?
Following the coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC) on 18 September 1998, junta leader general Saw Maung
promised to hold fresh elections and then hand over power to the
winning party as soon as possible. More than 100 political parties,
including detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi s National
League for Democracy (NLD) participated in the election held on
27 May 1990, the first election in 26 years.
When the NLD won 392 of 485 seats in parliament, the SLORC broke
its promise and issued order No 1/90, which meant that elected MPs
would not have the chance to take power directly but that a National
Convention would be held to draft a new constitution. How can
we hand over power to them without a constitution? Saw Maung
asked at the time.
The SLORC then went on to arrest dozens of MPs who did not follow
the No 1/90 order, while some MPs escaped to found a government
in exile. In 1992, the SLORC dismissed general Saw Maung and
replaced him with general Than Shwe, then said the promise had
been made by Saw Maung, not Than Shwe.
In January 1993, Than Shwe called a National Convention to draft
87
a new constitution. Initially, 93 MPs from the NLD and dozens of
ethnic MPs joined the convention, but in December 1995, NLD
members boycotted the convention, saying they were prevented
from engaging in a free discussion. In March 1996, the National
Convention was halted and in September 1997 the SLORC was
renamed the State Peace and Development Council.
In May 2004, the National Convention resumed but the NLD and the
ethnic MPs did not join for the same reason as in 1995. But nearly
100 representatives from ethnic groups that had declared a ceasefire
and 1,000 government-selected people attended. Finally, the 14year-
long National Convention came to an end on 3 September, but
no one knows how much further it will be to a new constitution.
Although nothing seems to have changed in the mainstream political
scenario in the past two decades, the sideline politics - especially in
areas bordering China and Thailand - have changed.
Dozens of ethnic rebel groups that had been operating for decades
signed ceasefire agreements with the government in the 1990s.
Most of them attended the National Convention. A few groups,
however, including the Shan, Karen and Karenni, are still ready to
fight back.
Apart from its political and armed conflicts, Burma s education,
health and social systems have collapsed, even though the government
says on their television channels that they are building hundreds of
schools and hospitals. Yes, they built new schools and new hospitals
in our area, but there are neither books nor medicine, explained a
leader of the Kachin group along the border with China.
For the business sector, Burma officially announced plans to open
its market to direct foreign investment in the 1990s. But to this day,
the government controls most businesses directly or indirectly. The
inflation rate is high at over 2,000 percent, as US$1 is now worth
1,400 kyats, as compared to 70 kyats to the dollar in 1988. The official
exchange rate is still $1 for 6 kyat.
According to a UN official in Rangoon, nearly 90 percent of the
country s population of 50 million lives below or near the poverty
line of $1 a day. But the government claims that Burma s GDP is
htet aung Kyaw
88
growing 10 percent every year as shown in the hundreds of new
bridges and dams that are being built. Many economists point to
junta mismanagement rather than US-led sanctions as being to
blame for the country s economic woes.
The junta s recent decision to increase fuel prices by 100 to 600 per
cent might be the worst move it has made in its 19-year term. Since
19 August, the 88 Generation Students group has led demonstrations
that have now spread nationwide against the fuel price hike.
Moreover, the country s highly respected union of Buddhist monks
has joined hands with the group and called on the SPDC to hand
over power to a democratically elected government, as they promised
to do 19 years ago.
89
how to bring an end to
Burma s civil unrest
Published in the Nation on 29 August 2007
Burma s recent history is repeating itself with the 88 Generation
Students group once again leading an uprising. But the question
that remains now is how this demonstration will end -at the
negotiating table with the military junta, as the UN recommends,
or in uncontrolled bloody civil unrest, as happened in 1988.
On 15 August, the government, which holds a monopoly on fuel
sales, doubled the price for diesel from 1,500 kyat (around 40 baht)
to 3,000 kyat per gallon, and raised the price of gasoline to 2,500
kyat. The price of a 65-litre canister of natural gas was raised from
500 to 2,500 kyat.
Authorities made these increases without any public announcement
and most people only found out about them when they were asked to
pay double their usual bus fare. Many bus services were suspended
and hundreds of commuters could be seen lining up at bus stops. In
addition, students could not go to school, workers were unable to go
their factories, and monks were late for their meals. Pandemonium
reigned.
It is very hard to understand their [the military junta s] mindset and
we were all shocked when we heard the news, said Khin Maung Nyo,
an economist in Rangoon. Fuel prices should have been increased
step by step rather than in this sudden drastic move, he suggested.
Anyway, I wish the authorities would make an adjustment to it as
soon as possible .
His wish has not been realised. This is challenging us, shouted
Htin Kyaw, leader of the Myanmar Development Committee. He has
been detained often in recent months for protesting over the high
price of commodities. He has demanded that authorities cancel the
fuel price increases within seven days - otherwise they must face
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90
our forces , he said in a telephone conversation with the Democratic
Voice of Burma (DVB).
Five days later, more than 500 people led by the 88 Generation
Students group staged a rare protest in Rangoon, marching against
the fuel price hike. We are staging this demonstration to reflect the
hardships our people are facing due to the government s fuel-price
hike, Min Ko Naing, leader of the 88 Generation Students group,
told DVB.
From then until now, the fearless youths have led demonstrations
in Rangoon, and these have spread to other parts of the country
even though authorities arrested Min Ko Naing and a dozen of his
followers.
Today, we, the 88 Generation Students, will jointly be staging
protests together with democracy activists, said Htay Kywe, one of
the remaining figures of the group now hiding in Rangoon. Members
of the National League for Democracy, monks, students who are
currently attending universities, and people who love the country
and want to see change in Burma, please join us, he told DVB from
his hiding place by cell phone on Friday.
While activists have been brave enough to protest, neither MPs nor
high-profile officials have joined the current demonstrations.
We have no plan to rally publicly rally, although we have sympathy
for them, said Nyan Win, a spokesperson for detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi s National League for Democracy
(NLD). However, members of his party s youth wing have led the
demonstrations and dozens have been arrested.
Hla Myo Naung, another 88 Generation Students group leader also
in hiding, said that the NLD were representatives of the people and
they must understand what people need now .
However, the NLD s aged leading figures have not been in much
of a rush to act in the current situation, though they did issue
statements.
Using violence to crack down on the protests will not provide a
91
solution to the hardships people are facing today... These problems
can only be solved when political parties and the government can
discuss this together to find an answer, the statement said.
United Nations (UN) secretary-general Ban Ki-moon released a
statement last week calling on the military to respond to peaceful
demonstrations with restraint as protests spread across the country.
The secretary-general calls on the authorities to exercise maximum
restraint in responding to any demonstrations, and encourages all
parties to avoid any provocative action. He calls for a constructive
dialogue towards national reconciliation at this important time in
[Burma s] history, the statement read.
The UN leader s statement followed similar calls from the US, UK,
Norway and human rights groups earlier this week. The US State
Department s director of press relations, Gonzalo Gallegos, told
reporters in Washington on Wednesday: We call on the regime
to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the leaders of Burma s
democracy movement and ethnic minority groups and to make
tangible steps toward a transition to civilian democratic rule.
However, ASEAN countries, China, India, Japan and other parts of
the world continue to remain silent.
How should this situation be brought to an end?
There are three ways in which the current unrest could end:
1) The protests will not be supported by enough people and, also
lacking the support of MPs, will end unsuccessfully with all leading
activists arrested;
2) A sufficient number of people join the current demonstrations but
some of them disobey their leaders commands and fight back against
pro-government mobs attempting to beat them. The authorities
might bring in police and army forces and if that happens, the current
unrest could lead to uncontrollable bloodshed;
3) A sufficient number of people join the protests and MPs from the
NLD use these demonstrations as pressure to push the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) to the negotiating table, as all
htet aung Kyaw
92
are requesting.
The time is now running out for the correct choice to be made. This
is not only in the demonstrators hands but also in those of leading
politicians from the NLD and ethnic parties. But even more, the
crisis is in the hands of the SPDC. Either side may, in addition,
need suggestions or intervention from the UN-led international
community.
93
what s the difference
between the 1988 uprising
and now?
Published in The Nation on 2 October 2007
After a deadly crackdown on the monk-led peaceful demonstration
through the streets of Rangoon, many drew comparisons between
the current mass unrest and that of 1988, but there are many areas
in which the two diverge.
There are some different points between the 1988 uprising and
now. For example, we have clear leadership roles, a clear goal and
lots of international interest which we did not have in 1988, said
Htay Kywe of the 88 Generation Students group, who is leading the
current demonstrations, from his hideout office in Rangoon.
Many who were involved in the 1988 uprising, including this
correspondent, agree with him. When we were on the streets 19
years ago we had no clear leadership but now the Htay Kywe-led
88 Generation Students and the All Burmese Monks Alliance are
clearly leading the demonstrations against the regime. In addition,
the imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for
Democracy (NLD) Party are standing by ready to run the country
if necessary.
If one looks back at the six-week-long demonstration, one can see
the differences. First, the 88 Generation Students group leader Min
Ko Naing led 500 demonstrators onto the streets of Rangoon on 19
August and shouted, We are staging this demonstration to reflect
the hardships our people are facing due to the government s fuel-
price hike. Second, some of his followers have continued to lead
the demonstration even though he and dozens of other leaders were
arrested. Third, youth members of the NLD joined with the 88 group
in Rangoon demonstrations, while local NLD leaders are leading
new demonstrations in their areas even though their headquarters
htet aung Kyaw
94
are inactive. Fourth, no demonstrators reacted when riot police or
the government-backed mob beat them.
These were not actions taken by an angry mob, but they were
systemically planned. After a month of small-scale demonstrations,
their movement reached a turning point on 17 September when the
All Burmese Monks Alliance demanded that the junta apologise for
the monks who were beaten in Pakokku.
From then until now, tens of thousands of monks have led peaceful
demonstrations, which have spread out, from Rangoon to the
whole country. Even though riot police have killed at least 30
demonstrators, including a Japanese video-journalist, thousands of
young men are still on the streets everyday. From his hideout, Htay
Kywe said he appreciated the reports filed by Burmese journalists
in exile, who have been working for over a decade in foreign-based
short-wave radio and satellite television and on the internet. He said
that his colleagues living overseas were struggling together with him
against the military junta.
The media coverage provided by those in exile is crucial given the
current unrest, even though the junta wants to keep out all foreign
journalists. If we compare the news coverage back in 1988, we could
only listen to a few minutes on the subject on the BBC s Burmese
service. This time, four short-wave radio stations, a satellite television
channel broadcasting to Burma and the Democratic Voice of Burma
television and radio provide non-stop reports from inside Burma.
When I saw the Japanese journalist shot by a soldier at close range,
I was in shock and could not believe my own eyes, was a typical
reaction by those who have seen the video footage of the shooting.
It is very important to let the international community know what
is really happening in our country, lamented Htay Kywe, who
compared the media coverage with 30 dead, to the 3,000 dead in
1988. That is why the United Nations Security Council called an
emergency meeting. That is why Mr Gambari is coming here, he
said.
However, this is not the first time Gambari has been to Burma, but
the third. No progress was made during his last two trips, but this
95
time many are expecting a breakthrough. But the question is: can
Gambari change the die-hard attitude of the regime, which has
refused to comply with the UN s suggestions for the past 19 years?
This time, the military might be divided with some of them joining
our side if we can hold on for more weeks on the streets, said Htay
Kywe. Rumours are also flying of disagreements between general
Than Shwe and his deputy general Maung Aye.
Therefore, to reach their goal of regime change, Htay Kywe and his
colleagues, including this correspondent, need to speed up their
activities. The UN-led international community needs to do more
as well, at least determine what action it plans to take if the regime
does not follow their suggestions this time.
The time is now running out to strike upon a golden opportunity,
which comes once in two decades. A failure on either side will
mean that the regime will continue to suppress their own people
for another two decades.
htet aung Kyaw
96
part five | far from home: 20 years in exiLe
97
Part Five:
Far from home: 20 years
in exile
htet aung Kyaw
98
Mixed signals from Burma
over disaster
Published in The Nation on 8 May 2008
Many people, including this correspondent, were shocked by the
state media s announcement that the death toll from Cyclone Nargis
had reached 4,000 on Sunday.
As I work for a daily news service, I was not surprised when they
announced 351 deaths on Saturday. This is because I was informed by
an official from Burma s meteorological department, in an interview
aired by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) on 30 April, that the
cyclone would hit the Irrawaddy delta, coastal regions and Rangoon
on Friday.
If the wind speed had been just 64 kilometres per hour as the
authorities forecast, there would not have been much damage. But we
are hearing reports today of over 22,000 deaths and 40,000 people
missing. So what went wrong? Was the meteorology department
playing down the risk, or was it a lack of modern equipment that
would have enabled it to give warning of the real ferocity of the
cyclone?
I have been working in the media for over a decade and I know very
well the junta s notorious censorship policy, especially on political
news. But I did not think they would hide the facts of a looming
disaster after the devastating 20004 tsunami. But I found my
optimism to be totally misplaced when I read an AFP news report.
Forty-eight hours before Nargis struck, we indicated its point of
crossing [landfall], its severity and all related issues to Myanmar
agencies, Indian Meteorological Department spokesman BP Yadav
told the French news agency on Tuesday after US First Lady Laura
Bush made allegations that the military junta had failed to warn its
citizens of the impending storm.
99
The allegation came not only from the US but also from survivors
in the delta region.
I heard we would be hit by winds of up to 64 kilometres per hour
from Myanmar Athan. That s why we were unprepared, said Aye
Kyu from Latbutta city where he said about 100,000 people were
dead or missing.
He said about 20 people had been killed by collapsing buildings but
hundreds of thousands were swept away when the wind and tidal
wave hit low-lying areas where dozens of villages literally fell into
the sea.
The winds were over 240 kilometres per hour and the waves higher
than my home, he told this correspondent in a telephone interview
on Tuesday.
Victims have nothing and are just lying in the grounds of the
monastery and they urgently need food, water, shelter, medicines,
he said. The UN should give aid directly to victims, not through the
government, he said.
He asked for the referendum, which is due to be held on Saturday,
be postponed for two weeks.
As we are all Buddhists, including the top generals, we should
respect the thousands of deaths that have occurred. I do not believe
the survivors will be ready to vote before then.
htet aung Kyaw
100
who will bell the cat in
Burma?
Published on the Democratic Voice of Burma website on 5 June
2008
Many Burmese, this correspondent included, were disappointed
when the US announced it was withdrawing the USS Essex group of
ships bearing aid supplies for cyclone victims from Burma s coast.
Why has the US-led Western bloc chosen to respect the heartless
generals so-called sovereignty over the lives of cyclone survivors?
Before admiral Timothy Keating announced the ships retreat, US
defence secretary Robert Gates described general Than Shwe s
refusal to allow the ships into the cyclone-hit delta area as criminal
neglect . Speaking in Singapore, he also said Burma s obstruction
of international efforts to help cyclone victims had cost tens of
thousands of lives .
This strong condemnation from the US Pentagon chief came after UK
prime minister Gordon Brown accused the regime of an inhuman
act and Jean-Maurice Ripert, France s permanent representative
to the United Nations (UN) said the junta s actions could lead to a
genuine crime against humanity .
However, there has been no action to follow up on these three
powerful nations strong rhetoric. The question now is: who will take
action against the heartless generals now these three permanent
members of the UN Security Council have gone back home?
Many world leaders are well aware of how Than Shwe s regime has
suppressed its own people over the past 20 years. Cyclone Nargis is
the latest and most powerful evidence of this, showing the ruthless
generals in their true colours.
Activists in Rangoon cannot take action against the regime or they
101
will face jail sentences. The latest example of this is the well-known
comedian and social activist Zarganar, who was arrested last night
after leading a 400-strong team of film stars, artists, journalists,
monks and relief workers to help cyclone survivors.
The special police unit also confiscated a computer and VCDs of
Rambo 4, the wedding of Than Shwe s daughter, and footage of
the destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis, all of which are illegal
in Burma.
Detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi s National League
for Democracy (NLD) party has urged the UN to take immediate
action.
Presently, the authorities are hampering and obstructing the
delivery of assistance from the international community. As a result,
the number of deaths is growing with each passing day, the party
said in a strongly-worded statement.
Therefore we, the NLD, which is mandated by the people, once
again appeal to the international community, including the United
Nations, to make use of all available means immediately to send
experts and humanitarian assistance and start undertaking relief
and rescue missions in Burma.
The call for intervention has come not only from opposition groups
but also from a former military officer and diplomat under former
spy chief and prime minister Khin Nyunt.
It was no surprise to me that senior general Than Shwe refused to
allow aid to get to millions of cyclone survivors, says major Aung
Lin Htut, who served as deputy ambassador in Washington before
he sought asylum in the US in 2005. This is because I remember
well how he killed hundreds of people in cold blood.
Aung Lin Htut pointed to the killing of 49 wood cutters and 22 Thai
fishermen on a southern island near the Thai port of Ranong in 1998
as an example, and Than Shwe s order to kill Aung San Suu Kyi in
Depayin in 2003, which he gave details of to the US-funded Voice
of America and Democratic Voice of Burma.
htet aung Kyaw
102
Ba Ba Gyi [old man] has never listened to the demands of the UN
and ASEAN, who give them carrots. But they take very seriously
the stick approach from US-led alliances and NATO, who are better
armed than them, he said. There will be no real change in the
Tatmadaw without the help of the US or NATO.
After a month-long war of words, there is enough evidence to
prosecute Than Shwe s heartless and cold-blooded killing as a crime
against humanity. But the question remains of who will take action:
who will bell the cat?
103
Can thailand face up to its
responsibility?
Published on the Democratic Voice of Burma website on 28 April
2008
While many are talking about the suffocation of 54 Burmese migrants
in southern Thailand this month, some lawyers and labour activists
are asking the authorities to allow the two million other Burmese
migrants in Thailand to vote in the 10 May Burmese referendum.
Burmese embassies around the globe invited local Burmese nationals
to vote from 25 to 29 April in advance of the 10 May referendum on
their country s future. But nearly two million Burmese migrants in
Thailand were not included in that invitation. Why? Are they not
Burmese citizens?
According to the 2008 referendum law, people who have left the
country and are living abroad illegally do not have the right to vote.
But Aung Htoo, a senior legal officer in exile and secretary of the
Bangkok-based Burma Lawyers Council, claimed that migrants do
have a legal right to vote.
According to Thai immigration law, those who hold Thai work
permits are living and working legally in Thailand. So they have
right to vote just as every citizen has, says Aung Htoo.
In fact, the Burmese authorities do not allow anyone to cross the
border checkpoint into Thailand. But everyone knows nearly two
million people currently on Thai soil have crossed at that check
point in the last 20 years. However, their names are still listed as
eligible to vote in Burma in the May referendum even if they left the
country a decade ago.
That is one of many factors that could jeopardise the chance of a
free and fair referendum in May, as over one million people will be
absent from the vote. No doubt the authorities might count them
htet aung Kyaw
104
as Yes or absentee votes rather than delete their names from the
electoral roll on time, Aung Htoo added.
Htoo Chit, director of the Khao Lak-based Grassroots Human Right
Education and Development (GHRE), agrees with Aung Htoo. Many
workers in our areas have urged me to do something to enable them
to vote in the May referendum, Htoo Chit says. I also believe they
have the right to vote as a basic human right which I tell them every
day. But I can do nothing without the authorities permission.
Khao Lak beach is near Phuket city where the 54 Burmese workers
who suffocated in transit were heading. The GHRE was set up there
after the 2004 tsunami and opened some primary schools for the
children of thousands of Burmese migrants living along the coast.
Many of those who now work in the fishing industry, on rubber
plantations, in construction, or at beach tourism sites came to the
country in the same way as those 54 Burmese workers. In this
situation, no one can go back Burma to vote. So what can we do for
them? Htoo Chit asked.
Nobody can answer his question yet. But some observers urged the
new Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej to help in this case,
particularly as he has suggested the Burmese generals study the
Thai referendum.
Even he didn t give details of this suggestion during his one-day trip
to Naypyidaw in March, the Burmese opposition wants him to urge
the junta to allow free debate and international observers which
were clearly seen in the Thai referendum.
Two weeks ahead of the vote, there are clear differences between
the pre-referendum conditions in Thailand and Burma. Dozens of
activists from Aung San Suu Kyi s National League for Democracy
(NLD) have been arrested, beaten and threatened for calling for a
No vote and free debate while senior ministers and senior officials
from the USDA are travelling freely around the country to campaign
for a Yes vote.
The government-controlled media, TV, radio and newspapers are
openly urging the people to vote Yes while the opposition has
105
no access to the media. That why we are calling again and again
for international observers, says Thein Nyunt, spokesperson for
legal affairs for the NLD. Teams from Thailand, ASEAN, China,
India, Bangladesh or the United Nations are all welcome, he said,
although the junta rejected the UN special envoy s proposal for
election observers.
Given this scenario, the Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej,
who has praised the Burmese generals for meditating and claims
the country lives in peace, must again urge the general to learn the
reasons for the success of the Thai referendum when he meets his
Burmese counterpart general Thein Sein in Bangkok on Tuesday.
Otherwise, he will fall into the same role as Thabo Mbeki, the
president of South Africa who refused to recognize the result of
Zimbabwe s election which was lost by his counterpart Robert
Mugabe.
Many observers compare the situation in Zimbabwe today to the
likely situation in Burma if the junta rejects the opposition s No
vote in the May referendum. Like South Africa, Thailand neighbours
one of the worst dictatorships in the world, and just as South Africa
has a duty to improve conditions in Zimbabwe, Thailand has a
responsibility to bring about a better situation in Burma.
htet aung Kyaw
106
is Burma ready for a new
election?
Published on the Democratic Voice of Burma website on 18 July
2008
Although the National League for Democracy (NLD) and main ethnic
parties didn t recognise the results of the constitutional referendum
in May, the ruling junta is now gearing up to drag the opposition
into a new election.
So is there any chance of a compromise before the 2010 election?
Many activists, including leading members of the NLD, were upset
when the state media urged them to prepare for the forthcoming
elections instead of clinging to the 1990 election results.
In fact, this is not first time in the last 18 years that the junta s
propaganda machine has told them to forget the 1990 result. But it
is the first direct challenge to the NLD since the junta adopted its
new constitution last month.
This has been forced through at gunpoint, said Thein Nyunt,
constitutional affairs spokesperson for the NLD. We don t recognize
their announcement and so we won t prepare for a new election.
He claimed the NLD would pursue all avenues to challenge the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on the fairness and
legitimacy of the constitutional referendum.
However, the situation on the ground is not the same as it was
in 1990. We are preparing to form a political party for the 2010
election. This is an opportunity for us, says Za Khun Ting Ring,
chairman of the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K), a ceasefire
group based on the China-Burma border.
If we oppose the seven-step road map, there is no way to move
ahead. So we must follow it to bring about a civilian government,
107
the 62-year-old former rebel leader told this correspondent in a
telephone interview.
The NDA-K and dozens of former rebel armies who signed ceasefire
agreements with the junta in the 1990s attended the government-
backed National Convention in 2004 to draw up the guidelines for
the constitution which the junta adopted last month.
Apart from the opposition and ethnic groups, the notorious pro-junta
Union Solidarity Development Association (USDA) is systematically
preparing for the election. Their latest move was to select two
candidates to stand as MPs in each township who are well-educated,
rich and respected in their communities, said Htay Aung, author
of a book on the USDA called Whiteshirts which compares the
organisation to Hitler s Nazi Brownshirts .
Founded in 1993 and the darling of general Than Shwe, the USDA
civilian wing is now 27 million strong in a country of 55 million
people. The USDA has played key roles in attacking Aung San Suu
Kyi s motorcade in 2003, organising the mass rallies in support of
the National Convention in 2006 and forcing people to vote Yes
in the constitutional referendum in May.
Major Aung Lin Htut, a key member of former prime minister Gen
Khin Nyunt s spy network, said that most of the USDA s leading
members were opportunists who were trying to win the favour of
general Than Shwe. But they not yet getting any support from
army chief general Maung Aye and front line troops. the former
spy says.
Another challenge for the USDA and Than Shwe will be to gain
support from former rebel armies, he pointed out. Many know
well how general Than Shwe broke his promise on the 1990 election
result but very few know how he ignored his promises to ceasefire
groups, major Aung Lin Htut said.
This view is shared by the New Mon State Party, one of 17 former
ethnic rebel groups. We walked out of the National Convention
when they rejected our proposals. That was broken promise which
they agreed in 1995 ceasefire agreement said Nai Aung Ma-nge, a
spokesperson for the Thai-Burma border-based Mon rebel group.
htet aung Kyaw
108
So we do not accept the referendum, constitution or election. The
SPDC should seriously consider how to guarantee the futures of
100,000 strong troops from former rebel groups before the election,
the outspoken rebel leader said.
In this scenario, can there be any opportunity left to reconsider the
SPDC-led seven-step road map before the 2010 election?
Yes, if the UN-led international community works seriously for
Burma this time.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and other world leaders well knew
how badly the SPDC had dealt with the aid operation to support
millions of survivors after Cyclone Nargis struck on 2-3 May leaving
135,000 people dead and missing.
But Ban did not say a word about politics when he meet Than Shwe
in Naypyidaw and focused only on humanitarian mission. However,
Than Shwe didn t listen to the UN chief s warnings but went ahead
with all his political plans; the constitutional referendum in May,
the adoption of the constitution in June and now the preparations
for an election.
As Than Shwe s seven-step road map draws near completion, the
UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, was invited to visit
Naypyidaw in mid-August. Although there was no tangible outcome
from his last visit in March, the door is still open for dialogue. Aung
Kyi who was appointed minister for relations with Aung San Suu
Kyi after last September s Saffron Revolution is still in post but has
been left twiddling his thumbs at the moment.
Former UN special envoy to Burma Razali Ismail supports keeping
the way clear for dialogue but warns that the Burmese themselves
must do more. The ability to talk to the regime must be maintained
in all aspects, including the political, he told this correspondent in
a telephone conversation.
I don t think the people of Myanmar should lose hope in the UN. The
UN is doing the best it can, he went on. When I was working there,
I was doing the best I could, but finally it is up to the government
and the people of Myanmar to make all the necessary changes.
109
twenty years on, Burma s
opposition lacks unity
Published in The Nation on 7 August 2008
While the whole world is busy watching the Beijing Olympics, many
Burmese are preparing for the 20th anniversary of the 8 August 1988
uprising, or 8888 . But the question now is how many Burmese
can seriously review this journey of 20 years and the goals of the
democracy movement? There is no sign of any big ceremony inside
the country as all key members of the 88 Generation Students group,
including Min Ko Naing, are in jail.
Last year, students and monks led a peaceful demonstration against
fuel price hikes which led to September s Saffron Revolution, and
many Burmese activists around the globe plan to hold ceremonies
to mark the anniversary.
In Thailand, before they head to Beijing for the Olympics opening
ceremony, US president George Bush and first lady Laura Bush will
encourage Burmese activists in Bangkok to fight on for their freedom.
This is significant support from the world s most powerful country
but it is not enough to change the situation inside Burma. Obviously,
the US has tried to punish the Burmese regime through the United
Nations (UN) Security Council, but two decades of economic and
diplomatic sanctions have not worked. China, the main supporter
and business partner of the Burmese junta, uses its UN veto all the
time to act against the US s desire.
We want to urge the UN Security Council and world leaders to
take action; words are not enough, said Htun Myin Aung of the 88
Generation Student group in a telephone interview from his hiding
place in Rangoon.
The UN Security Council and the US urgently need to announce
that they do not recognise the junta s referendum result, as they did
on Zimbabwe s election result, the leader in hiding added.
htet aung Kyaw
110
If the UN can do this, the 88 Generation Students group, 1990
election winners and many activists believe there will be negotiations
between the junta leader general Than Shwe and detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
But a rival of the 88 Generation Students group, Aye Lwin, does
not agree. This is just their dream of outsiders helping. In reality,
there is no dialogue, only the need to try to win the 2010 election,
the pro-junta student leader said.
They blame the Tatmadaw [the Burmese military] all the time but
never try to entice the Tatmadaw to their side. That is why they
have not reached their goals or achieved power in 20 years, the
controversial government-backed figure said.
There is no doubt that many activists, especially those in exile, will
be angry at his comments. Why? Has he got the facts wrong? Or is it
just too hard to recognise a different opinion from a rival group?
No matter whether we agree or disagree on that point, we need to
seriously review why we have not yet reached the goals set 20 years
ago. According to some activists and researchers, the main reason is
a lack of unity among the democracy movement s leaders. They point
out that the opposition had a chance to form an interim government
during the power vacuum after the 1988 uprising. Secondly, they
also had a chance to take power after the 1990 election, in which
Aung San Suu Kyi s National League for Democracy (NLD) won 80
per cent of the vote.
After the junta refused to recognise the result of the 1990 election,
some politicians and activists went to rebel-controlled areas where
thousands of students from the 1988 uprising had founded a self-
styled student army. But there on the Thai border, they similarly
faced a lack of unity among the leaders. The student army divided
into two factions in 1992, while their allies the Kachin and Mon
armed rebels signed ceasefire agreements with the junta in 1994
and 1995. The powerful Karen rebel group split in late 1995 with
the Buddhist Karen siding with the junta. The lack of unity among
the leaders made for a growing distrust of other factions. Many
students and activists, including some Karen rebels, left their guns
111
to go to third countries while the junta occupied many of their
former bases.
Back in Rangoon, the junta held a National Convention in 1993
but the NLD walked out in 1996. Since then, the NLD has called
for dialogue with the junta but without success, although there
were some meetings between Than Shwe and Aung San Suu Kyi
sponsored by ousted prime minister Khin Nyunt before the 2003
Depayin massacre.
The international community has called for the junta to respect
the result of the 1990 election and begin dialogue with opposition.
There have been at least three UN special envoys to Burma, including
Gambari, who is heading back to Burma later this month. Even
though the UN Security Council discusses Burma continually, there
is no sign of Than Shwe changing his tune.
However, there is still an opening to deal with the junta in the wake
of Cyclone Nargis, which hit Burma leaving 135,000 people dead and
missing and millions homeless. The junta needs millions of dollars in
urgent help from the outside world, although it continues to berate
the West in its state-controlled media.
But the world body needs to remember that international aid is not
the first priority for the junta, but power. UN secretary-general Ban
Ki-moon and other world leaders well know how badly the SPDC
has dealt with the aid operation to for millions of cyclone survivors.
But Ban did not say a word about politics when he met Than Shwe in
Naypyidaw; instead he focused only on the humanitarian mission.
However, Than Shwe didn t listen to the UN s warnings but went
ahead with all his political plans: the constitutional referendum
in May, the adoption of the constitution in June and now the
preparations for an election in 2010.
In this scenario, can there be any opportunity left to reconsider
the SPDC-led seven-step road map before the 2010 election? Will
there be any dialogue as demanded by the 88 Generation Students
group and representatives of the 1990 election winners? There is
no guarantee but the possibility is still open. But it is dependent on
unity among world leaders, especially the five permanent members
htet aung Kyaw
112
of the UN Security Council. It also depends on unity among the
Burmese opposition leaders and on how much the junta wants to
maintain the status quo.
We need action now. Not more words, young activists will shout
on Rangoon s streets on the anniversary of 8888.
113
what s changed in Burma in
the past 20 years?
Published on the Democratic Voice of Burma website on 17
September 2008
Tomorrow, 18 September, is the 20th anniversary of the coup that
ousted the socialist regime of U Ne Win and brought the State Peace
and Development Council to power following the junta s crackdown
on the Four Eights uprising.
But the question now is how much has changed in the 20 years since
the 8888 uprising? Does Burma need a new approach?
Although there have been no tangible political improvements in
the past 20 years, the way people think does seem to have changed.
This shift in mentality could be said to be the most significant sign
of progress in the past 20 years.
All the changes are based on the 8888 uprising. A change in ideas
is a very important step towards real change, said Dr Aung Khin, a
London-based historian and prominent commentator on foreign-
based Burmese language radio stations. He pointed out that the
willingness of many Burmese inside the country to speak out to
foreign radio stations is a significant change compared with the 26
years of Ne Win s socialist era.
Ludu Sein Win, a veteran journalist in Rangoon who was jailed
several times during the Ne Win era for his critical writings, agrees
with Aung Khin. Yes, we have more opportunity to speak out now.
I had no opportunity to talk to the media during U Ne Win s Masala
era. But now, there are many journals inside the country and you
in the foreign media speak every day to Thakhins [veterans of the
independence war], politicians, lawyers, activists, journalists even
farmers in the countryside, he said.
Talking to foreign-based radio stations is the only way to take
htet aung Kyaw
114
action against local authorities who abuse their power and human
rights, one of Sein Win s fellow journalists in Mandalay told this
correspondent. I have seen a lot of evidence of action being taken
after you aired news stories about their abuses. This is a good sign,
he said.
But a lawyer in Rangoon who has been a strident critic of the
military regime says this is not enough. Yes, people more criticise
the government now than ever before. But how many people is that?
I don t think it s more than 500 people, while there are another
50 million who are still afraid of the military, the lawyer pointed
out.
Aung Zaw, editor of the Irrawaddy magazine in Chiang Mai,
Thailand, said this increased level of criticism should not only be
directed against the military government but should also focus on
pro-democracy groups. When it comes to the culture of criticism
towards each other, we are still weak when it comes to using facts
and figures and we lack the skills to make the other side hear us out
calmly, he said.
But at the same time, if you look at bloggers, the internet, websites
and Irrawaddy publications, we have been looking at the weaknesses
of the opposition almost constantly.
But Khun Myint Tun, an MP in exile in Mae Sot, Thailand, worries
about the consequences of self-criticism. In order to be open, we
must be able to criticise ourselves and our organisation. But this
criticism has to be constructive; we need to be disciplined and take
care not to damage our unity, he said.
However, activist-turned-political analyst Aung Naing Oo says the
opposition needs strong criticism. We talk about the faults of the
military government while ignoring the faults of the opposition. At
the 20-year point, if we say the movement has not been successful
for one year, two years, three years, 20 years, we need to think
why it has not been successful, the former Student Army leader
commented.
Obviously, many Burmese are now asking themselves why they have
still not achieved victory after 20 years, and why they were doomed
115
to fail again in last September s Saffron Revolution, despite their
efforts in the 8888 uprising?
There is no shortage of questions, but the answers are harder to
come by. No one can come up with a precise and commonly-agreed
strategy for a final push after 20 years of sitting and waiting for
outside help.
But one thing that is now clear is that many activists have lost
confidence in the United Nations negotiating role after special envoy
Gambari s last mission. They are also beginning to lose confidence
in the 20-year-long push for dialogue led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
Metta [negotiation] is not enough, armed struggle is also needed,
said a Buddhist monk in Rangoon who was involved in last
September s Saffron Revolution. We do not doubt the Dhamma but
the Dhamma is not as useful as a bullet-proof vest when we are facing
this brutal military, the monk added with a pained expression.
These views are echoed by former military officials such as captain
Sai Win Kyaw, who joined protesters in the 8888 uprising, and
major Aung Lin Htut, a key member of former prime minister
general Khin Nyunt s spy network and former deputy ambassador
in Washington.
We know the soldiers mindset well they never consider dialogue,
only firepower, a former army official suggested. Unless you have
a strong, well-armed force, the SPDC will not care about you.
But a rebel leader in Thai-Burma border sees things differently. No
one supports armed struggle nowadays, only non-violent methods.
If you find any donors for armed struggle, please let me know, he
said with a wry smile.
Of the many armed groups, including the All Burma Students
Democratic Front which was founded after the 8888 uprising, not
one was ready to come to the aid of the monks during September s
Saffron Revolution. Armed struggle is not easy, the rebel leader said,
citing the list of nearly 1000 casualties among his comrades while
thousands of others have now resettled in Western countries.
htet aung Kyaw
116
However, a defence analyst based in Thailand said numbers were
not the issue. You don t need thousands of regular troops as you
did over the past two decades, but dozens of elite special forces,
he suggested.
But I not sure who the donor would be for this project, he joked,
alluding to the dependence of many organisations, including armed
groups, on the donors pocketbooks. However, it would only be
about five percent of the budget of the whole exile movement, he
estimated.
Whether you agree or disagree with his suggestion it is clear that we
need to seriously consider why we have not yet achieved our goal
after 20 years. What changes do we need to make to our policy and
tactics?
117
Far from home: 20 years in
exile
Published on the Democratic Voice of Burma website on 19
September 2008
It was midnight on 19 September 1988, the day that government
troops shot dead at least five demonstrators and wounded many
more in Tavoy, southern Burma.
About 100 university students, young men and women, escaped
from the killing field to my village across the Tavoy river to discuss
what to do next.
Finally, we agreed to go underground to launch an armed struggle.
It will not take more than 20 days, Tin Lay, chairman of Tavoy
district Students Union, told his followers before we headed to the
eastern jungle where we hoped to take up arms and fight back against
government troops.
But now, we are far from home 20 years, not 20 days. My life
has totally changed, from 24-year-old university student to rebel
leader and now to exile. Dozens of my comrades were killed on the
battlefields while Tin Lay and others fell victim to jungle intrigue.
There was no opportunity for an independent inquiry so no one
knows who killed Tin Lay and why. But according to a brief report
by a former student from battalion 201 of the All Burma Students
Democratic Front s Minthamee Camp, Tin Lay and seven students
were killed in spy games while 81 were killed on the battlefield.
The ABSDF s official website, www.absdf8888.org, confirmed that
account and said that a total of 992 students were casualties of jungle
life; 344 were killed on the battlefield and 394 wounded, while 254
died of disease or other causes.
After 20 years of fighting, how many are left of the thousands of
htet aung Kyaw
118
ABSDF members now, aside from those 992 martyrs? You can still
see a few hundred in the Thai-Burma border area while thousands of
others have resettled in the West; North America, Europe, Australia
and New Zealand.
What are they doing now? Are they still fighting for democracy, the
main reason they left their county in 1988, or are they just enjoying
the full scale of human rights on offer to them in their new democratic
homelands?
This is our individual right! insisted one of my comrades who has
resettled in North America. As you know, we fought the enemy for
10 years in the jungle spending our time wrapped in leaves. Now is
the time for my family, he explained to me.
We want to continue our struggle wherever we are, another
comrade who resettled in Europe told me. But we face many
regulations here restricting our political activities. You will face
funding cuts from the government if you are carrying out activities
during the week. That why you only see our activities at weekends,
he said sorrowfully.
But another comrade who resettled in Australia and is now a business
graduate suggested focusing on higher education rather than political
activism. You guys are only focusing on current politics rather than
looking to the future rebuilding of the country. We all need to pursue
higher education as this is what Burma is likely to need once the
military falls, he said.
Although many exiles were students during the 8888 uprising, very
few have completed further education. Not more than a dozen of
exiles have gained a PhD, about three dozen have Masters degrees
and about 100 have Bachelor degrees, while more than 10,000 other
exiles have been wrapped up in their daily lives and have lacked the
will or the means to pursue further education.
However, many former members of the ABSDF, including the three
quoted above, are still sympathetic to the cause and continue to send
donations to their comrades who are fighting in the border areas, as
well as to activists in Rangoon and survivors of Cyclone Nargis.
119
But the question remains: is this a good enough way for an exile
to bring democracy to their country? Is this what they dreamed of
20 years ago? Do they believe that these small-scale activities can
press the military regime in Naypyidaw to change the situation in
Burma?
No, no one believes that this is the way to change in Burma but they
do not have much choice. If you look back further than 20 years, you
will see another two generations of exiles in hiding.
There are members of the People s Patriotic Party led by former
prime minister U Nu in the 1970s, now exiled in Thailand, India
and the West, while hundreds of others from the Communist Party
of Burma are now in China. The period since the September 2007
Saffron Revolution has seen the latest generation of exiles leave for
Thailand and the West.
To conclude this discussion of exiles and their role in Burma s
politics, let me quote two different views from leading politicians
inside the country.
We are in the same fight but in different tactical positions. We
recognise their sacrifices and commitment to the revolution. We
also praise their activities abroad, although we would never think
of going into exile ourselves, said Ko Ko Gyi, a leading member of
the 88 Generation Students group who is now in jail after playing a
prominent role in last September s Saffron Revolution.
But U Lwin, a retired colonel who served as deputy prime minister
during the late general Ne Win s socialist regime and is now a leading
member of Aung San Suu Kyi s National League for Democracy,
holds a different view.
You guys in exile just criticise each other, criticise us, criticise
everyone rather than do your job. If you are brave enough to fight
the military government, please come here, don t just criticise from
thousand of miles away. Then you will understand the real political
situation that we face here every day.
htet aung Kyaw
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About Win Htein @ Htet Aung Kyaw

Win Htein @ Htet Aung Kyaw was born in

1- Casualties of hunger ........................................................

1- An alert for the coming 9999 uprising?....................................?

1- Cry Freedom on the air ........................................................

1- Problems in Burma need people power .....................................?

1- Mixed signals from Burma over disaster ...................................?

Or are they leading people in the struggle for Burma?

secondary education has been through the Distance Education

gwin; near Kanbauk village,in Tavoy district.

million-a-year contract committed with the Burmese military regime

selling Burmese writer who recently fled to Thai-Burma border,

In January 2001, at the Suan Plung army camp in Ratchaburi where

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